


Precious Addiction

by NihilismPastry



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dark fic, F/M, Horrortale AU - Freeform, Horrortale on the surface, soul mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-04-13 20:32:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14120229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NihilismPastry/pseuds/NihilismPastry
Summary: You poison my veins and rip me apart. Devour me whole and leave my remains for all the world to see. Isn't that what love is?The surface was a far off dream up until ten years ago. However, it seems the Monsters had traded one dreary prison for another. Sans is determined to escape the prison of the asylum and go to the sprawl of gutted buildings and dark shadows known as Old Ebbot. A haven for Monsters that was said to be owned by Monsters...But with his brother and their addiction to their soulmate will they ruin it all?





	1. Sober

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dark_Crystal_Demon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Crystal_Demon/gifts).



> Gore Level: None

The wall was filled with colorful sticky notes, calendars with cute cats, and enough washboards filled with scribbles to make a conspiracy theorist to go insane. This chaos contrasted so heavily from the made up bed shoved in the corner, and the clothes that were neatly hung up and ironed in the closet. And yet the owner of the painfully clean room didn’t seem to care as he yanked down a yellow sticky note, and replaced it with a bright blue one that had a time scribbled on it in red ink. The yellow one was crumpled up and tossed in a wicker trash can beside the bed, the only item in the garbage. Empty eye sockets took in the colorful chaos, following the maze back and forth for a moment before the Monster hummed and tapped a calendar date circled in red and decorated with exclamation points. “Today’s the day!” 

The Monster quickly left his own bedroom and into the living room. Orange magic shifted the robin egg blue couch closer to the low table, and patted the freshly cut dandelions sitting in a plain glass vase. Just as they finished, a shrill ringing came from the kitchen, and with hurried steps they made it in time to pull out the instant pizza. The pie was small, and there was no meat on it, but it was food so he wasn’t about to complain. He cut it up into six neat pieces, before reaching over and taking the only two plates out of the cabinet. With a bit of work he got it on the cheap red ceramic, and those were promptly sent into the living room to sit on the table. Just as he began pouring up some lemonade into the chipped constellation mug there was a knock at the door.

“COMING!  DON’T LEAVE!” He hurriedly put down the plastic jug and ran to the front door. Just as the knock started up again he ripped it open, just to find a skeleton with a single cherry red eye light, bones that were so thin and small, and a hole in his skull standing before him. He was flanked by a tall human female that had her black hair pinned back, and dark brown eyes that regarded him with a cold expression. “BROTHER!”

“hey, paps. long time no see.” The small skeleton reached out and pulled the taller one into a side hug.

“SANS, DON’T EXAGGERATE. TWO HOURS ISN’T THAT LONG.” The woman cleared her throat, catching Papyrus’ attention. He quickly let go of his brother and held out a gloved hand to her. “I’M SORRY MA’AM, BUT WHO ARE YOU?”

“I’m Clementine Park,” she said, ignoring his hand entirely as she spoke. “and I was assigned to watch over Mr. Skeleton while he made this commute. I was also told to give you a list of guidelines now that your brother has reached level two of rehabilitation, and your recent relapse into level two.”

Papyrus wordlessly moved aside, allowing both his brother and the sharply dressed woman to enter the living room. She hardly gave the room a once over as she went over to the couch and sat down, putting her brown leather briefcase on the table.

Sans seemed more keen to go down the narrow hallway, muttering something about not smelling rubbing alcohol as he left. Papyrus wasn’t sure if his brother was just curious about the new home or if he wanted to get away from the human. “WILL WE GO BACK TO THE FACILITY?”

“No.” A light click sounded as she opened up her briefcase. “Despite both of you being at level two status, the board has noticed that the two of you seem to have better progress during therapy and the like when you’re together,” she said. “Going back to the facility would mean you would have to be seperated, so the board decided to engage the two of you in an experiment. It will both help your rehabilitation back into a human and non-cannibalistic society, but would also help us gain very important data.”

Papyrus began twisting his fingers, his gaze darting down to the stack of papers that Clementine was taking out. “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO FORCE AN ELECTRIC PRODDER IN MY EYE SOCKETS AGAIN, ARE YOU?”

“No.” She set down the papers and began spreading them out. Most of them had words typed up in a tiny generic font that hurt Papyrus’ eye sockets. “We will be having a third person added to your soul link. They will not live here until Wednesday, but they will be able to moderate your emotions at all times, and will be able to send us data in the case that you both regress to level three or lower, or if Mr. Skeleton destroys your house again.”

_ His brother destroying this house was the last of his worries.... _

However, Papyrus was smart enough to hold his tongue on such a thought instead giving a bright smile and moving around the couch to sit down. “YOU WILL ENSURE THAT THE SOUL LINK IS PLATONIC LIKE MY BROTHER AND I’S, CORRECT?”

“Of course.”

Papyrus glanced back to the hallway, just to see his brother lurking there and staring at the two of them with a rather blank expression. He didn’t get a chance to ponder what it meant when the human began speaking again. “She will also upkeep your re-education regimen despite the fact you’re not longer at level zero and graduated from living with a host family.” She tsked at that. “Personally, I believe that Monsters should remain with host families until they have passed on to level four status and gained citizenship, but then I suppose you all would never move out of the host family homes.”

The laugh that Papyrus emitted was uncomfortable and low. Once again his gaze shifted back to the hallway and his brother, but the skeleton was nowhere in sight. “W-WELL, HUMANS HAVE BEEN KIND SHOWING US HOW THEIR CULTURE WORKS.”

The human shook her head. “Morals are not culture, they are the way a civilized world works, but I do understand your sentiment.” She handed over a metal pen with a chrome matte finish and a nib that wasn’t bent. It was the sort of thing that would have been sold for a few rations back Underground, and would have made a nice gift for Sans when he was having one of his rare ‘productive days’. “Now, please sign each of the dotted lines as they instruct, and date the final page please.”

The monster took the pen in his hand and with a few strokes signed more of their rights away.

* * *

 

Sans could feel the link formation before he even ripped out his soul to see it. There was a gentle tug and a blooming warmth that started from his soul, and extended to every bone and ligament of his small body. 

**It was repulsive** .

The very core of his soul was sitting in some lab right now and there was a team of scientists tampering with it. Sharp needles, freshly cleaned scalpels, and vats full of chemicals that left the taste of rubbing alcohol in his mouth. They would all swirl, and prod, and cut, and slice until they did whatever their end goal was. In this case, it appeared to force a soul connection between himself and a human.

How did he know? Well, that was an easy answer. One he wasn’t quite sure of, but he knew at one time or another that the delicate differences between a Monster soul connection and a human one would have been little more than second nature to him. The itch of forgetfulness swarmed in his skull, and scarred fingers reached up to scratch around the edges of the gorge decorating his skull. Bits of dust fell onto the blue comforter, and he could practically taste its sweetness on his tongue.

“Sans?” He paused in his scratching as his bedroom door opened, and his brother stood in the hallway clutching a pillow. His day clothes were still on, and the dim light from the hall reflected off the ridiculous braces that would likely forever be in his brother’s mouth. “Did you feel that?”

“yup.” His brother shuffled in place for a moment and he opened his mouth once again before shutting it with a light click. Sans sat up now and raised a brow bone at the nervous behavior. “ya worried?”

“NO!” He shook his head so quickly Sans was almost afraid he’d knock his own skull off. “I-I’m just...excited.”

Sans shifted and moved all the way to the side of the wall. It had been painted a soft brown and was the only one not cluttered with notes and graphs of his brother’s design. It was weird not sleeping on top of paper and pins. “ya wanna be excited with me?”

“I’m not a babybones, Sans.”

“i know.” He shrugged. “just figured i’d offer. best stick together while they’re playin’ doctor with our soul cores. never know when they wanna stick a plague in ‘em.”

“Can they do that?”

“ i dunno.”

Papyrus continued to stand in the doorway for a good long moment before he picked his way across the already clothes littered floor and slid into the bed next to him. The pillow separated them, but Papyrus had always had a warped fascination for soft things on his bones. The two laid down in silence for a long moment, before Papyrus let out a dramatic sigh that sounded like leaves whistling in the wind. “Do you think the human will be like our first host family?”

Well, that was a very unwanted question. Sans mulled it over for a few moments as his mind went back to the first year on the surface. Some parts of it was blurry and forgotten, but others stood out like a star against the inky black sky. A woman calling them trash, a man keeping food away from them, and a girl watching on in petrified fear anytime they so much as looked in her direction. In the ten years that Monsters had been on the surface, Sans had to admit that the first year was probably the absolute worst that the surface had to offer. Even the moment when Dr. Silas ripped out the core of his soul and put it in the fancy collection jar hadn’t left so many scars in his soul, in his mind, and on his body.

**_Filthy._ **

**_Trash._ **

**_Disgusting._ **

**_Sl-_ **

“SANS!” Warm cotton clenched at his hand and ripped his fingers out from his useless eye socket. “YOU SHOULDN’T DO THAT. YOU’LL NEVER GET YOUR SIGHT BACK IN THAT SOCKET IF YOU KEEP RIPPING OPEN THE SCABS.”

He drew his hand back and stared at the claw-like distals. They were coated in an oozing aquamarine substance that smelled like rot. Papyrus used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the gunk away, staining the already dingy shirt with a new stain that would be a bitch to clean out. Looks like he wasn’t going back to the loony bin with that shirt on…

“I do not like it,” Papyrus said after a few moments. “but if it would help you relax then I will pick up a box of cigarettes for you when I go shopping on my permitted days.”

“paps, we ain’t got the money for that sorta thing.”

“But we do!” He was practically bouncing now. “The good thing about the new friend coming to live with us is the increase in revenue! We’ll have $1,000 to spend a month!”

“better than $200…”

“Precisely!”

The gentle thrum of the new connection swirled and twisted in his soul, leaving a dull ache and something bitter ingrained inside of him. Having to share his territory with someone else was terrible but a dramatic increase of funds? Well, he wasn’t going to turn up his nose on such a gift. The little human could waltz into their lives all they wanted, but he would make sure that they remained right where they were until he could manage to slide into his old haunts and make some cash.

He leaned back on the bed and shut his sockets, his grin pulling up at the edges as sleep began dancing at the edges of his mind.

One day he’d save enough money to leave this shit show.

One day he’d be able to support his brothers and his large dreams.

One day they would leave for the fabled Monster territory of  **_Old Ebbot_ ** .

  
  



	2. Sober II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Warning: Mild

Living with Monsters was a rather normal thing. Ever since the Monsters crawled out from under that old mountain a few years ago, it was commonplace for the Monsters to live with humans as part of the Acclimation Clause. Your own family had taken in a dog Monster for a few months, and she quickly entered from phase four to phase one easily. Your family didn’t volunteer to house another Monster after that, but that experience had been interesting enough that you didn’t mind being carted off for this one.

You shifted a bit in the taxi, your legs bumping against a backpack that was bulging with clothes and books. A bright red stamp stood out against the bleached denim, and your gaze followed the twisting numbers until they reached a crumbled up sheet of paper. You plucked it up and read the only legible part of the small font.

**Acclimation Experiment**

“Hey, we’re here.”

You ripped your gaze off the paper, and onto the street that the taxi had managed to find. The houses were crowded, most of them built from old off colored brick, and the windows had bars on them. Even from where you sat you could see clunky video cameras attached to the homes, and even more attached to the lamp posts that flanked the cracked sidewalk. None of the narrow driveways had cars, but there were bike racks, and a few of the driveways had a bike or two attached to the rusted and flimsy hunks of metal.

You tore your gaze from the dilapidated neighborhood, and back to the sheet of paper crumpled up in your hand. You peeled part of it back and began reading several of the lines, looking over the street address again and again. “101 Mulberry Lane…”

Your gaze looked over the identical mailboxes until you managed to find the one you were looking for. The house was made of those old bricks, and there were wrought iron bars over the windows like every other place on the block. However, it appeared someone had attempted to paint the door a flashy shade of orange, and there were Christmas lights slung along the roof. More than half drooped towards the ground, and they weren’t plugged in right now, but it could have been the result from a storm two days prior...

“Gonna get out?”

You blink and dig a hand into your pocket. It took you a few moments, but a wad of cash was put in the taxi driver’s hand, and you were dragging yourself out of the car with your backpack. You were barely standing on the sidewalk before the taxi was half way down the road, kicking up dust and mud all at the same time. “Jesus…”

“no human gods here.”

You jumped and twisted around, just to find yourself staring at a skull. There was a massive gorge in the side of it, and a single glowing orb hanging in one of the eye sockets. The teeth were square and flat, but they had an almost jagged look as well as if the teeth themselves were unnatural in a way.

You swallowed thickly and held out a hand. “Hi, I’ve been sent by the Reacclimation Clinic. I’m-”

“i know who ya are, human.” They didn’t bother taking your hand. “ya were supposed to be here two hours ago.”

 

“I was, but there was some traffic, and I had a check up I had to do before coming down here.” The Monster moved around you and began walking to the house as you spoke. Not sure what else to do, you followed behind them, still talking. “Anyway, tardiness isn’t something I’m really known for, so it shouldn’t happen too often whenever we have something planned.”

The Monster merely hummed as they opened up the door to their house. You were immediately blinded by color, and you had to blink multiple times just to keep from going blind. The walls were a bright yellow, and the coffee table had bright blue corners on its maple surface. There was a lime green couch, and there was purple swirls painted on the white ceiling fan. As much color as possible had been splashed in the room, and you really hoped that your own room wasn’t this festive. You didn’t think you could sleep with so many loud and active colors splashed on nearly every surface.

“take ya shoes off at the door.”

You glanced down at your own ratty hiking boots, and quickly knelt down to undo the knots in the shoelaces, before carefully placing the boots next to a pair of duct taped covered sneakers, and a nice pair of brown loafers. You didn’t get a chance to dwell on the stark contrast as you heard pots bang and clang together from another room, and a loud voice that had a rich youthful tone called loudly for some garlic.

That must be your other housemate.

You slowly crept into through the living room and a sharp left led you into a small kitchen. The old fashioned stove was on, and there was a stainless steel pot boiling something that smelled heavily of tomato and parsley. Looming over the pot was a skeleton Monster that had their back to you. “Sans, I asked for the garlic!”

“Um…”

The Monster twisted around and you swallowed hard as you stared at them. Their teeth were oddly narrow and looked overcrowded despite the silver braces in their mouth, and the orange overbite bands that were there as well. There were spider webbing cracks around the jaw bones as well, and a few tiny pits that you would have missed if you weren’t staring so hard…

You were gonna get kicked out at this rate. 

You stuck out a hand. “Hello, my name is-”

A gloved hand snatched your own and began bobbing it up and down. “OH, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, HUMAN. IT’S WONDERFUL TO PROPERLY MEET YOU. MY NAME IS PAPYRUS SKELETON, AND MY BROTHER…” He seemed to be staring at something behind you for a moment. “I HAVE NO CLUE WHERE MY BROTHER IS, BUT I’M SURE HE WOULD BE EXTREMELY ANNOYED TO MEET YOU.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“WELL, IT’S BETTER THAN ‘HE WOULDN’T WANT TO MEET YOU AT ALL’,” Papyrus said. “MILDLY ANNOYED IS MANAGEABLE. NOT WANTING TO MEET YOU AT ALL WILL BE A GAME OF ‘KICK MY BROTHER OUT OF HIS BED AND FORCE HIM TO FUNCTION’. I’D RATHER HE BE RUDE TO YOUR FACE THAN NOT PRESENT FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.”

“Oh…” The skeleton, Papyrus, let go of your hand and went back to stirring his pot. “Um, so do you want me to just go or…?”

He turned back towards you and tilted his head. “WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE? SANS CAN BE GRUMPY ALL HE LIKES. HE NEEDS TO SOCIALIZE. TALKING TO NO ONE BUT DOCTORS, MYSELF, AND HIS MIRROR WHEN HE THINKS I’M NOT LOOKING ISN’T HEALTHY.”

“Oh…”

You really didn’t have much more to say than that, and honestly, you weren’t sure what the right answer would be. ‘I’m sorry your brother is very anti-social and heading skull first into a pit of depression. Anywho, what’s for dinner, dude?’ didn’t sound nice enough for a first impression.

As such you ended up standing there awkwardly for the next ten minutes. Well, awkward was a relative word. The other skeleton, Sans, didn’t bother coming around and as such you were left watching Papyrus cook all by your lonesome. He was very proficient with his cooking, something you noticed was an inherent trait of all Monsters. Every bit of the garlic was used in some way, taste testing was kept to under a tablespoon of the soup, and the vegetables were washed three times in warm water before he chopped them up and scrapped every bit into the bubbling pot.

When everything was put in the pot, and Papyrus had stirred the contents a few times with a scorched wooden spoon, he spun around and put his hand on his narrow hips. “NOW, I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD DISCUSS HOUSING ARRANGEMENTS.”

You shifted your backpack for the tenth time in the last minute, your shoulders had become numb some time ago, and your spine was beginning to hurt. “Probably…”

He stared at you for a long moment, his empty eye sockets narrowing slightly, displaying more spider webbed cracks on his skull. “WELL, WE ONLY HAVE TWO BEDROOMS IN OUR HOME…”

“So we’re sharing?”

He blinked. “YOU’RE NOT REPULSED?”

“No.”

“Huh…” The sudden shift from obnoxiously loud to a normal tone was such a surprise you almost didn’t hear him at all. “WELL, THAT’S GOOD. IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF YOU DECIDED TO TRY AND CLAW OFF YOUR SKIN EVERY NIGHT BECAUSE YOU HAD TO SHARE A BED WITH WHAT AMOUNTS TO YOUR INSIDES AFTER DEATH, DECAY, AND FRIENDLY MAGGOTS.”

“But you’re a Monster so you’re alive thanks to your soul?”

You saw a hint of blue in his eye sockets for a moment. “OH, SO YOU’RE NOT COMPLETELY IGNORANT? WONDERFUL! YES, MY SUB SPECIES IS A SKELETON, BUT I AM ALIVE AND WELL. MOSTLY. AND I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT SNUGGLING AGAINST THE COLD IS NOT GOING TO MAKE YOU A NECROPHILIAC.”

“Thanks?”

“YOU’RE WELCOME.” He began walking towards you, and you moved out of his way, however, a gloved hand reached out to drag you behind him. “I’LL SHOW YOU MY ROOM. DESPITE SANS BEING HERE FOR OVER A WEEK I DOUBT HIS ROOM IS CLEAN. IF YOU EVER FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN THERE, YOU’RE FREE TO SLEEP IN MY ROOM AGAIN WHILE I EITHER CLEAN HIS ROOM OR THREATEN TO TURN HIS ROOM INTO A PUZZLE.”

“Aren’t mass puzzles like that still illegal for anyone not phase two?”

“AH, WELL IT WOULDN’T BE DANGEROUS,” Papyrus said. “I’M NOT ALLOWED TO BUY SHARP THINGS ANYWAY. THEY’RE CONSIDER WEAPONS A LOT OF THE TIME. HOWEVER, I FAIL TO SEE HOW A NEEDLE WOULD MAKE A GOOD WEAPON. HUMANS CLAIM YOU CAN SCOOP OUT EYEBALLS WITH THEM, BUT I CAN TELL YOU-” He paused, for a moment, right outside a door that was covered in various superhero posters. Some of them were humans and others were Monsters from the various Monster publications. “OF LOOK, WE’RE HERE! CONVENIENT, HUH?”

You don’t get a chance to answer as he opened up his bedroom door. It’s a nice room, with white walls that were covered in an eclectic collection of calendars, notes, and cards hung on every wall. Some came from franchises you recognized, others were hand drawn, and even more were from franchises you didn’t recognize. “You’re pretty organized. I’m not gonna be intruding in on your mojo, am I?”

You could see him grinning out of the corner of your eye. “YOU’LL PROBABLY BE INTRUDING ON MOST OF MY ALONE TIME, AND MY SHOWER TIME, AND A PORTION OF MY MEALS, BUT THAT’S NOT ALL MY MOJO.”

“Just most of it?”

“EXACTLY!”

Wow, you suddenly felt like an utter leech on his existence. A hand raised up to rub at your chest, and you felt a dull throb where you knew your soul should be. Dr. Silas had warned that any and all soul bonds would result in feel major emotional shifts with certain stimuli, but you felt like someone had shoved you head first into boiling water. Your face was hot and you could feel humiliation trickle down your spine.

“If it’s that bad maybe I should just call up and see if I can use my allowance money for a rental or something.” Your hand dug into your jean’s and pulled out a smartphone with a shattered screen. “I mean, I don’t want to disrupt your entire lives. I’m just sorta supposed to be an observer, not a babysitter or intruder-”

Your heart stopped as cold bone curled around your wrist, stopping you from unlocking your phone. Your gaze shifted, and you were face to face with a cold grin and a dull red eye light staring at your phone. The shorter skeleton looked like the most bored Jack-O-Lantern to have ever existed. “now what’s that i hear on you leavin’?”

“I-I…”

You could hear a loud sigh from Papyrus. “THEY THINK THAT THEY SHOULD MOVE OUT. I THINK THIS IS FASTER THAN THE TIME WE GOT KICKED OUT OF OUR THIRD HOST FAMILY’S HOME.”

Sans ignored his brother in favor of questioning you. “why ya wanna move out so bad? got a bone to pick with us?"

“N-no,” You shook your head. “I just didn’t realize that we would be sharing rooms and having to share so much time together. It's..." You fought to find a good word for it, but Sans was staring at you so hard that the first thing that came to mind slipped out of your mouth. "Stifling." 

Sans gave a dry chuckle that sounded too much like the grind of a death rattle. "par for the course down here.” 

“SANS, DON’T COMPARE OUR NICE NEW HOME TO...THAT.” You could hear Papyrus’ bones rattling. “IT’S NICE HERE. IT REALLY IS,” You yelped as your backpack was lifted off your shoulders, and carefully set in the middle of the pristine bed. “AND ALL OF US WILL HAVE AN AMAZING TIME AS ROOMMATES AND FRIENDS. EVEN IF WE ALL WILL HAVE TO ABSTAIN FROM CERTAIN INTENSELY PRIVATE ACTIVITIES.”

“paps, i’m not quitting-”

  
“YES. YES YOU ARE.”

What...were you getting into again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh jeez, I updated something! Now our Reader is firmly planted in the house, but now it's only a matter of time until she crosses a line with Sans...
> 
> If she hasn't already. 
> 
> Guess what doesn't cross any lines? My tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	3. A Hit of Mary Jane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Warning: N/A

After some debating, more like Sans repeating the word no everytime a suggestion was made, it was decided that all of your things would be put in Papyrus’ room. Not that you had much to begin with. It was just your backpack and whatever you had managed to stuff into your cargo pant’s pockets. The dresser had two drawers dedicated to you, and the closet had been split in half so you could hang up a few other things as well. The tall skeleton had also been kind enough to give you the bedside table to charge your things, and leave a notebook and your comics neatly stacked up. 

The backpack itself was tossed into the trash. There were too many holes, and after Papyrus had inspected it, he deemed that it wasn’t worth salvaging due to the broken zippers and thin cloth.

Honestly, it’d been embarrassing having Papyrus watch you unpack your meager supplies. Most of it was old, faded, beat up, and just shy of needing to get tossed into a recycling bin. You were aware that Monsters had it worse at one point, but he wore nice black slacks and a prim blue button down shirt. When you’d helped him go through his clothes you found that most of his clothes were indeed like this. All of them nice, all of them respectable, all of them ironed, and none of them faded or worn down.

After that Papyrus had excused himself to go shower, and that left you alone in your now shared bedroom. You kicked your feet as you sat on the bed, staring at the complex looking series of calendars, notes, and index cards pinned all over the wall.

“hey.”

Your fingers curled into your pants but you do your best to give a shaky smile. “Hi.”

His dull red eye light stares at you while the fingers of his left hand drum against the wall he was leaning against. “who ya sleepin’ with tonight?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure Papyrus said I could stay with him and then tomorrow would be with you?”

He stared at you for a long moment before he ambled over to the bed and crawled onto it. Clawed fingers pulled back the blankets, and he began burrowing himself under them. “tonight too.”

“Oh…”

That was… normal, right? You knew that Monsters had the tendency to feel emotions more poingantly than humans did. Maybe that was why a 420 year old skeleton was happy to sleep in bed with his 210 year old brother and a stranger? The urge to protect was strong enough he was willing to over look how awkward this must be?

The skeleton continued to stare at you, that pupil shrinking down three sizes and the hand not fisted in the blanket snaking up to his empty socket. You felt a shiver go down your spine and your stomach churn as those long claws slipped into his socket, disrupting an aquamarine membrane you hadn’t even noticed before. Blue trickled down his face in a thick clump, and you could smell rot mixing with something that smelled like artificial sweeteners straight out the packet.

Just as you were wondering if it was wrong to say something, the door opened again and Papyrus walked into the room wrapped in a bright orange towel. “OH, ARE YOU GOING TO JOIN US, SANS?”

“yup.”

“WONDERFUL. I’D RATHER YOU JUST JOIN US THAN STARE INTO THE WINDOW LIKE A SERIAL KILLER.”

Your eyes widened. “Wait-” 

Sans snickered and waved it off, some of the gunk getting on his dusty blue jacket. “eh, that’d  _ kill _ the mood.” 

Papyrus gave a gusty sigh, and before you even had time to protest, he ripped off his towel and began folding it. You gasped and sharply looked out the aforementioned window, watching as the street lights flickered in the darkness. “Papyrus, you know that you’re naked, right?”

“VERY OBSERVANT, HUMAN,” He said. “I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED MY LACK OF CLOTHES REPRESENTED NAKEDNESS.”

You ignored his biting sarcasm for the moment. “Yeah, but…”

How were you supposed to explain that people didn’t just go around naked? You knew that there were certain Monsters that hadn’t worn clothes, but the Reacclimation Program had nipped that in the bud pretty quickly. Just like they had mostly stamped out the Monsters' sock fetish.

“HUMAN, IF I AM THE REPRESENTATION OF Your INSIDES AFTER A DANCE WITH DEATH, THEN IT SHOULD NOT MATTER IF I AM NAKED OR NOT.”

“Ah-”

“REMEMBER: CUDDLING IS NOT NECROPHILIA.”

“But-”

“ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR CUDDLE MATE IS ALIVE AND WELL.”

“mostly…” Sans added from under the blankets.

“YES, SANS. THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING HOW WE ARE NOT FULLY FUNCTIONING. I BELIEVE THIS CONVERSATION WAS MADE BETTER FOR IT. SIMILAR TO HOW HUMANS WERE MADE BETTER BY HAVING CUMBERSOME WISDOM TEETH IN THEIR TINY JAWS.”

You sighed and flopped back on the bed, your gaze cemented to the window. “Papyrus…” 

 

“YES HUMAN?” 

“Just put on some clothes.”

He huffed and you heard cloth shift, but it wasn’t long before you felt someone slide into the bed next to you. Boney  _ cloth _ covered ribs pressed against your back, and upon peeking back at your other roommate, you confirmed that he did bother to throw on some pajamas. They were a bright red, and if your eyes didn’t deceive you, that was either the best polyester in the world or genuine silk.

“Sleep Well.” Papyrus’ words were whispered next to your ear, but there was no breath tickling it, not like there would be for a human. Instead, you felt something akin to your feet going numb, and it made you shiver and dig yourself into the blankets you were previously sleeping on top of.

“night, bro,” Sans said, his words grumbled and almost too quiet to hear.

“Good night, guys.”

* * *

 

You felt pain in your abdomen, and even more pain in your spine. It was probably the only reason that you bothered to open your eyes at all, but upon doing so? Well, you were going to have to insist on sleeping on the couch from now on. 

Sans’ skull rested on your stomach. The jagged points of the gorge in his skull dug through the thin cotton of your t-shirt, and you were almost certain that you could smell blood, rot, and that sickeningly sweet smell again.

Papyrus, on the other hand, was pressing far too close against you. One of your legs were tangled up in both of his, and his ribs were digging into your poor spine. Anytime you tried to move he made a soft wheezing sound and would press against you all over again.

This was odd.

You slipped a hand into your pants’ pocket and extracted your cellphone. You were careful not to have the screen shine on either brother and tapped into an app that was only accessible with a four digit code. Upon entering a cheerful yellow heart greeted you in bubbly blue text, and you clicked through a series of options. 

**_How are you feeling?_ **

_ Good. _

**_Did you take your medications?_ **

_ No. _

**_Does your soul hurt?_ **

_ No. _

**_Have your new bond mates displayed any odd behaviors? If so please list them below!_ **

You purse your lips and tapped on the red plastic case of your phone. You hadn’t known them long enough to determine if any of their behaviors were wrong or not. If anything, they displayed a lot of traits that most Monsters you’d ran into had: Dramatic behavior, carefulness with food, and a penchant to have a weariness towards strangers…

Actually, Papyrus didn’t display that last one. Was that just a personality trait, or was that actual behavior that should be examined by Dr. Silas? You sighed and turned your attention away from the black ceiling and back to the phone screen.

**_Have your new bond mates displayed any odd behaviors? If so please list them below!_ **

_ N/A _

**_Have YOU displayed any odd behaviors?_ **

_ N/A _

You hit the jumping next button, and the heart happily informed you that the data was being sent to the proper administrators and that your sacrifice was not in vain, but to help the strained relationships between Monsters and humans.

You sighed and clicked out of the app, and shut off your phone again before the little heart could try to continue to ‘lift your spirits’. A sharp jerk on your abdomen distracts you from the task, and when you look down you find yourself staring at a dull red pupil that took up most of the dark socket.

“Good morning?”

“...”

You sighed and pursed your lips. How could you possibly forget that this Monster had a penchant for acting creepy when his brother wasn’t there to distract/buffer/ground/knock sense into him. “Can you please get off of me?”

“why? ‘m comfortable and it ain’t even six.” He shut his eye sockets. “don’t see you askin’ about my brother.”

“He’s asleep?”

“so?”

“It’d be rude to wake him up, Sans.” Your words are hissed and low, and it takes so much willpower not to say it far louder than it needed. “I  _ am _ a guest in this house.”

“awe,” Your toes curled as he crawled up your body until his nasal cavity brushed against your nose. The rottingly sweet smell was so much stronger now and it got worse every time he blinked. “we’re just a one night stand?”

You ignored the innuendo. “Sans, please get out of my personal space. Remember, in human society it’s not only rude it’s-”

“yeah, yeah.” He rolled off of you and onto the far corner of the bed. “go back to sleep,  _ master _ .”

You weren’t surprised by the bitter dismissal thanks to the re-education quotes. You’d seen Monsters react far worse to it…

But that didn’t stop the throb in your chest all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ending was so awkward to write. Originally Paps was supposed to wake up, but then it became a bit too cumbersome so then that ending was decided upon. Yup, some hurting on Reader's part. Though, does she really believe in the whole re-education thing or is it just a tool to irritate Sans...
> 
> Hmm...
> 
> Know what doesn't irritate? My Tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	4. A Bite of Hash Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Warning: None

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, spinach, and toast that had a thin layer of apple jam slathered on it. All of it was arranged neatly on three plates in the dining room while a pop song played on an old looking I-phone on the countertop. The coffee maker, a robin blue appliance that had seen better days, was already dripping the precious coffee into its container.

It was all a beautiful sight really, but not one you could imagine Sans whipping up if you were being honest with yourself. Yet here he was pouring coffee into a bright red mug that had a gold infinity symbol on it. “if ya done starin’ give this to paps.”

You slowly padded across the linoleum floor to his spot by the sink and coffee maker. “Your brother a caffeine addict?”

“yup.”

He didn’t offer anymore conversation, and since you didn’t want a repeat of two hours ago, you merely went to the bedroom. Papyrus had taken up most of the bed now with splayed out legs and arms. His mouth was opened just a bit and you could somehow hear a wheezing snore from him. He looked far more serious and mature in his sleep, oddly enough, almost as if he was a lawyer or doctor from those drama shows your mother had been so fond of.

You shook the thought away as you called out to him. “Papyrus? Hey, Papyrus. I have some coffee for you.”

More snoring was the only response.

Okay…

You probably should have asked Sans how to actually wake Papyrus up. Didn’t caffeine addicts just respond to the smell of coffee? Then again you didn’t know if he could actually smell it or not. So, not knowing what else to do, your voice became a bit louder. “Papyrus!”

His left foot jerked and he flopped over to his side. His snoring stopped and for a few moments, he looked just like a corpse. Stiff, lifeless, and not a hint of sound coming from him. You gripped the coffee mug a bit tighter and took a hesitant step back. “Papyrus?”

Silence…

Your knuckles turned white as you gripped the mug. “P-Papyrus, please tell me you’re not dead. Your brother’s gonna kill me.”

Kill you and probably eat you too.

The thought was a rogue one, and you wanted to smack yourself for actually thinking something so stupid, but it felt just as true too. Sans didn’t seem to like you, and from what you saw in Dr. Silas’ files, Papyrus was his only living relative. After surviving all the horrible things in the Underground, it’d probably piss him off to have some human stranger barge into his home and end up accidentally killing his brother.

 

“Human?”

You were ripped from your spiraling thoughts, and you wanted to thank your lucky stars as you stared down at a groggy Papyrus. One of his eye sockets was open, and his gloved hands clutched the blankets.

“Morning, Papyrus.” You held out the mug. “Sans made you some coffee.”

He slowly reached out for it and brought it to his teeth. Now that you were closer to him, you noticed that his braces and overbite rubber bands ejected a thin film of green magic. You wondered if the mouth bits were enchanted or if his body was naturally exuding it. “Is there something wrong, Human?”

Your eyes darted up from his teeth and to his face. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry, was just,” You waved your hand. “gone with the wind.”

He grunted and started chugging down his coffee. Not sure what else to do, you go over to the drawers holding your clothes and pull out a t-shirt and shorts before padding off to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, and your clothes in the dirty basket, you enter the kitchen to find Sans shoveling food into his mouth and Papyrus inhaling more coffee. Your plate of food was untouched and piled high with so much food you doubted you’d have enough room to pack it all into your body.

You pursed your lips and stared down at your gut.

Well, you weren’t a quitter.

You went over to the table and sat down, stabbing some of the eggs with your fork and popping them into your mouth. Sans’ engorged eye light watched you put the food away, albeit not stopping in his own eating. That was another trait you’d noticed from Monsters, and it was one you never quite understood.

Whenever a human was eating they would insist on watching them. This was a trait that all Monsters seemed to have, and you’d never gotten the courage to ask about it. You knew that some humans had, as a result, made it a rule to never eat with Monsters. There were some dining places that had a Monster only seating area, and even though the number of Monsters that could even leave this area was few and far inbetween, it was still a useful area if you didn’t want to be stared at while doing a very basic task.

“SO!” You looked up from your spinach and watched as Papyrus refilled his coffee mug. “I THOUGHT WE SHOULD DIVIDE UP THE CHORES TODAY.”

A massive chart with each of your names in different colors was slammed on the table. There was a grid, and next to the grid was the name of a chore, and across from those was the weekday. It was painfully organized, painfully neat, and you wondered when on earth Papyrus had made it since he didn’t even learn your name properly until yesterday.

Sans paused in eating and stared at the chart. “this isn’t gonna turn into one of those deals where you do all the chores yourself?”

Papyrus recoiled, his eye sockets wide and mouth agape. “SANS! I WOULD NEVER DISMISS YOU FROM CHORES!”

“nah, you just take over them.”

“WELL YOU’RE RATHER SLOW WITH THEM, AND MAKE A BIGGER MESS, AND YOU USE PINE SCENTED CLEANER INSTEAD OF LEMON.”

You weren’t sure how that last one was even an issue, but you couldn’t help the snort that escaped. This caused Papyrus to freeze and stare at you, which in turn made you shovel some more food into your mouth to avoid having to explain your sudden sense of humor.

“if you wanna put up a chore chart you’re gonna have to let us clean, paps,” Sans said, completely ignoring you. “ain’t no point workin’ yourself to the bone.”

Papyrus snapped his gaze from you to his shorter brother. “YOU WEREN’T EVEN TRYING.”

“yup.”

You swallowed the bite of toast in your mouth. “How come I only have shopping?”

“because you can go into the city to pick up things.” Sans deadpanned.

“ACTUALLY,” Papyrus went over to the table and picked up the colorful chart. “YOU WILL BE HELPING BOTH OF US WITH OUR CHORES. I REMEMBER WE DID SUCH AN EXERCISE BACK IN THE MENTAL HOSPITAL. IT HELPED CAMARADERIE AND FRIENDSHIP.”

That was actually a good idea, at least in theory, anyway. You remembered that Papyrus had mentioned something about how Sans would have elected to avoid you forever if Papyrus didn’t force him out of his room. You had to admit that it was a nice gesture, albeit something that was likely to cause nothing but arguing. Chores wasn’t exactly a fun activity, and more often than not it could result in bickering or awkward silence.

Papyrus gestured to the sink filled to the brim with plates, pans, and utensils. “YOUR FIRST SET OF CHORES WILL BE WITH SANS. YOU CAN WASH AND HE CAN DRY.”

“why can't i wash?”

“YOU KNOW WHERE THE DISHES GO.”

“dishes’ true.”

Papyrus groaned and downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp. “SANS.”

“yeah?”

“DON’T FORK WITH ME.”

You groaned and shoved more toast into your mouth. Those jokes were absolutely horrible, and both of them should be ashamed of themselves. However…

Well, you couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off your face.

* * *

 

Once breakfast was finished it was time to tackle the dishes. You washed out the sink with the lemon scented cleaner, despite Sans’ insistence to use pine, and scrubbed with a bright blue sponge. Sans stood next to you, leaning against the sink and staring at his cellphone with a blank expression. He wasn’t relaxed, you weren’t sure if Sans even knew what it meant to relax, but it didn’t look like he was pissed at you either.

As you plugged the sink and began filling it with warm water and orange smelling soap, you pulled your phone out of your pocket and typed in the code. Your phone screen popped up, a picture of a sandy beach was your background photo, and you began looking through your texts.

There was one from your Mom asking if you wanted to go out for dinner next week, and another from your Dad that was just a picture of a cute kitten that was brought to the veterinarian clinic he worked at. There were some from your friend Carol, and all of them comprised of bitching about the new doctor at the hospital she worked at, and what a asshole this woman was.

You answered each one before going to your email and looking through the deals and such for the different sports stores that you were subscribed to. When you were done you shut off the water and began scrubbing a plate that didn’t have a lick of food on the green surface. You supposed that was a good thing about Monsters, they never really left any food messes behind.

“your family know you’re shackin’ up with a bunch of monsters?”

You paused in your task, an eyebrow raised. “Excuse me?”

Sans didn’t bother looking up from his phone. “you’re a human living with to monsters. that ain’t normal.”

“So?” You went back to scrubbing the plate, your grip tightening on the ceramic. “This isn’t the first time I’ve lived with Monsters. My parents had a Monster in the house once for the program, so it’s not like I’m doing this blind.”

The skeleton continued flipping through his phone. “you _are_ doing this blind. humans don’t normally live with us in our territory. bunch a big scary monsters and a tiny human? that ain’t normal.”

You looked up from the soapy suds and over to the skeleton Monster. Your fingers twisted into the sponge and wrung it out. “My parents don’t understand everything I do, but I can promise you that they did support me being part of this program. So if you’re implying that you can get away with killing me in the middle of the night-”

He held up a hand. “i didn’t say anything like that. didn’t even cross my mind.” He looked up from his phone for the first time. “i just got out of the slammer. my brother’s doin’ pretty well for himself here. i don’t want us thrown back in the loony bin cause ya ran off to play hero. ya get it?”

You blinked, and once again that pain in your chest flared up from your accusations. “Y-yeah, I get it.” You picked up Papyrus' mug and began washing it out. “My parents and friends know I’m around. Not gonna have a rescue brigade on your hands, I can promise you that. So, sorry for going off, I guess." 

Sans looked up from his phone for the first time, his eye light somehow going half lidded despite his socket being wide open. “ok.”

“Cool.”

* * *

 

Papyrus hummed to himself as he folded his clothes and put them in the dirty clothes hamper. He didn’t hear shrill screams or Sans yelling, so he was pretty sure that the human and his brother were getting along. One of his biggest worries was Sans hiding away from someone that was supposed to be their companion, and for their companion to reject them on the grounds that they weren’t being good hosts.

While Sans was happy about the human’s presence increasing the amount of funds they got every month, he was far more concerned with getting them out of the current phase they were both placed. What was a better way to show the other humans that they were healthy and well adjusted than having a human living with them?

He went over to the bed and stripped off the blankets, sheets, and pillows. Going into his bedside table he took out a lint roller and made several passes along the mattress, before grabbing the sheets and pulling them onto the bed. They smelled as they always did, fresh lavender, something he enjoyed from the laundry detergent. However, there was something new added to the mix. He pressed a corner of the orange sheets to his face and shut his sockets as he focused on the new smell.

Gingerbread, salt, and something that reminded him of motor oil.

He hadn’t ever had these combinations of scents in his bed before. Something about it sent a shiver down his spine, and as he let his magic absorb this new smell, he sat down on the bed and let himself relax. If the human was going to smell this good maybe he shouldn’t purchase scented laundry soap anymore. He wasn’t fond of scentless things, but their natural scent had bled so nicely into his sheets…

**_Bzzt!_ **

He jolted and dropped the corner of the sheet off his face and grabbed his phone, his mind plummeting back down to earth and making his fingers shake. He typed in the code to his phone and opened up the text messaging app. It was just a reminder from his service provider to pay the bill, nothing too important, but he saved it regardless for just in case reasons.

His gaze shifted from his phone and back to the sheets. “What is wrong with me?”

All Monsters had a better sense of smell than humans. This had increased after the food ran out and everyone began hunting more than they used to. Every human had their own unique smell that accompanied them, but it wasn’t often that it caused a Monster to be pulled one way or another. It wasn’t like magic, and the context when it came to smelling certain things about magic.

Maybe it was just the combination of smells? The human was new, and he’d never smelled those things in that combination. He was a curious skeleton, and it wasn’t like it was a crime to be curious. In fact, his therapist encouraged him to be curious about humans and their various customs. It would help make blending into their society that much easier and would help buffer the accidents that were bound to happen.

He was happy with this line of logic as he put his phone away and finished making up his bed, occasionally stopping to press the soft bits of cloth up to his face.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I warned you guys this wasn't exactly a slow burn... Personally, though, I REALLY am enjoying writing Paps. That first step into crazy town was kinda sad though.
> 
> Know what isn't sad? My tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	5. Laughing Gas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: None

The next few days created an uneasy cycle that slowly became the norm. Sans would make breakfast, you would wake Papyrus, and then the three of you would consult the chore chart to decide what cleaning would be done. By early afternoon everyone would go find something else to do on their own. You never knew what Sans was doing, Papyrus mentioned likely avoiding you and sleeping, but you’d always catch Papyrus either re-organizing his bedroom or playing a puzzle game of some sort. 

As for you?

Well, you spent most of your time playing Tomodachi clones on your phone or watching mountain climbing videos while draped along the couch. Neither of the skeletons ever bothered you about the hobbies, and you didn’t make it a habit of trying to intrude on theirs. This created a boring and lonely existence, in its own way. You missed hanging out with Carol after work and watching terrible soap operas, or listening to music while cleaning your hiking boots after a nice hike down the hills close to your apartment building. Hell, even going to a hole in the wall bar and drinking shitty mojitos sounded fun about now.

You sighed and nuzzled into the bright orange throw pillows and took your phone off the charger. Papyrus had announced an hour ago he was going for a jog around the neighborhood, and Sans had retreated into his bedroom again. You stared at your phone as the time kindly told you that it was only noon.

Wonderful.

You slowly shuffled off the couch and stuck your phone into the pocket of your shorts as you made your way to the kitchen. There was some oatmeal muffins covered in foil sitting on the counter, and a half empty pot of coffee too. You were pretty sure it was French roast, and you knew they had some hazelnut creamer too. Upon opening the fridge you looked through the mostly barren shelves until you found a cooked hot dog from dinner last night.

Well, that would work for lunch.

You stuck the sausage in your mouth and shut the fridge with your hip. The box of cereal sitting on top of the appliance wobbled, but otherwise, silence reigned supreme in the kitchen as you chowed down on the hotdog and prepared the stale coffee in what was usually Sans’ mug. Once it was full you made your way back into the living room, just to find Papyrus sitting on the couch and unlacing his bright red jogging shoes. “HELLO, HUMAN! I SEE YOU FOUND YOUR WAY INTO MY COFFEE.”

You paused and stared down at the mug before looking back to the passive aggressive skeleton in front of you. “Haven’t taken a sip yet if you want it back.” You held out the mug. “No problem.”

Papyrus shook his skull as he yanked off one shoe, and set it under the couch before working on the next one. “I DON’T CARE THAT YOU’RE INVADING MY PRIVATE COFFEE STASH.”

“Papyrus.” You set the mug on the table. “If you don’t want me touching your things just say it. We’re roommates. Mutual respect’s part of the deal.”

“WOW, YOU’RE SUDDENLY PROACTIVE IN COMMUNICATION.”

You blinked and scratched your jaw. It probably did seem weird to see the human that had been living with them for a week, and had tried to be as polite as possible, suddenly drop formalities. Truth be told it took a lot of mental prep to deal with both Sans and Papyrus, and your day of lazing around and homesickness had sapped any and all mental energy out of your systems. You hadn’t even filled out the mandatory form in the app you were so tired and lazy today. “That bad? Want me to go back to the ‘substitute teacher who’s hoping her kids don’t mess with the seating chart’ voice?”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE MORE OF A ‘NEW CASHIER HOPING THE LITTLE OLD LADY WITH EXPIRED COUPONS WON’T RUIN YOUR FUTURE’ VOICE.” He fiddled with his black shoelaces. “OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.”

You watched as Papyrus took off his other shoe before dipping a hand into the pocket of his blue shorts and taking out cinnamon smelling hand sanitizer. Even from where you were you could smell it. “So we outta the awkward phase?”

“NO. BUT JUST LIKE A TEENAGER THAT BECOMES AN ADULT, OUR RELATIONSHIP WILL EVENTUALLY STOP BEING UGLY AND STUPID.”

“Thanks?”

“YOU’RE VERY WELCOME!”

You sighed and shuffled past Papyrus. Your thighs bumped against his propped up knees, and you were quick to mutter an apology as you sat down. Papyrus didn’t respond, and when you turned to look at him, you were surprised by how hard he appeared to be staring at his legs. You knew most Monsters didn’t like being touched, a lesson many had learned the hard way, but Papyrus wasn’t like that. He didn’t usually mind brief touches on the hand or legs brushing against each other when sitting down.

“YOUR SCENT IS VERY NICE, HUMAN.”

“Huh?”

 

His gaze didn’t meet your own, instead, they were still locked onto his legs. “YOUR SCENT. EVERYONE HAS A UNIQUE SCENT, AND MONSTERS ARE ABLE TO SMELL IT ALL THE TIME. YOURS SMELLS GOOD.”

“Papyrus, what’s that gotta do with anything?”

He shrugged as he picked up the mug of coffee. “I CAN SMELL IT OVER THE COFFEE, MY OWN SCENT, AND THE HAND SANITIZER SINCE YOU’RE SO CLOSE. I DIDN’T THINK I WOULD.”

Her nose wrinkled as you took a sniff. The only thing you could smell was his hand sanitizer, you couldn’t even smell the coffee over it. “So you mean I stink?”

“YES. BUT IN A GOOD WAY.”

“...”

Papyrus took a sip of his coffee before speaking again. “IT’S NOT A BAD THING. WELL, IT WOULD BE IF I WAS TRYING TO TRACK YOU, BUT I’M NOT RIGHT NOW.” You ignored that last part. “BEING ABLE TO RECOGNIZE A UNIQUE SCENT AND HAVE IT BE PLEASANT IS A GOOD THING. IT MEANS THAT I AM ADJUSTING TO YOU LIVING IN THE HOUSE.”

“Really, I didn’t know that,” You said. “I remember in the class about Monster biology they said the sense of smell is attuned to look for… things.” 

“IT’S OKAY, YOU CAN SAY FOOD, PREY, INNOCENT HUMANS WE WOULD DEVOUR DUE TO OUR DESPERATION THANKS TO HUMANS TRAPPING US IN A MOUNTAIN WITH LIMITED RESOURCES FOR A MILLENIA..” 

“Yeah… That.”

“NO, OUR SENSE OF SMELL IS USED FOR MORE THAN THAT.” He shrugged and finished the rest of the coffee before standing up and making his way to the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with another mug full. “IF WE DIDN’T LIKE OR GET USED TO THE OTHER PERSON THEN THE SMELL WOULD BE TERRIBLE. SMELL IGNITES CERTAIN MEMORIES IN OUR HEADS, SO WE ASSOCIATE THE SMELL WITH A MEMORY, PERSON, AND EMOTION.”

You nodded as it all started to make sense. “Oh, I get it. Humans do the exact same thing. I hate the smell of teriyaki because it reminds me of the time I got food poisoning.”

“THAT’S SIMILAR TO HOW IT WORKS, YES,” Papyrus said. “EXCEPT IT WOULD BE A MEMORY OR FEELING THAT WAS RECENT. FOR EXAMPLE WHEN I SMELL YOU I THINK OF WHEN YOU WERE SLEEPING WITH SANS AND I LAST NIGHT.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Why that?”

“BECAUSE I COULD HEAR MYSELF THINK. YOU AND MY BROTHER ARE NOISY.”

“Oh…”

“ ‘m not noisy.” You jump when you find Sans sitting next to you. His hands were shoved in the pocket of his shorts, and his eye light was fixed on you. You didn't see him leave his room at all, or even hear the obnoxious squeaking from the couch when he sat down...

Papyrus merely scoffed. “REALLY? I COULD HEAR YOU SNORING FROM IN HERE.”

“that wasn’t snoring.”

“I KNOW IT WASN’T THAT BUCKET OF BOLTS YOU CALL A COMPUTER.”

“98 is my baby. leave ‘er out of this.”

You sighed and got up as the two bickered. It was never a serious sort of argument, the most you ever heard from Sans was mild irritation from time to time. As you listened to them bicker you got some water from the sink with a glass and went back to the living room, and made yourself comfortable on the floor beside Papyrus. Your knees were tucked under you, and you set the glass between your legs while you fished for your phone again.

You had begun checking your Facebook for the twentieth time, maybe you should just check your horridly dated MySpace next, when you heard the argument die off and shift to prattling about hat should be for dinner. You never really voiced your opinion for these conversations, mostly because you were incredibly picky, and you’d learned well enough that Monsters did not like picky eaters.

“MAYBE PESTO CHICKEN?”

You could practically hear Sans roll his eye light. “ya gonna heat up the whole house making that.”

“IT’S NOT THAT HOT, SANS. YOU ACT LIKE YOU WEREN’T BORN IN HOTLAND.”

“that makes no sense-”

Papyrus was quick to cut him off. “THEN I’LL MAKE FRIED CHICKEN.”

“what’s with you and chicken?” 

“I HAVE CRAVINGS, OKAY?” 

Sans sighed and the couch creaked with his movement. “let’s just get take out then.”

“THE CHINESE PLACE WON’T DELIVER HERE ANYMORE.”

“why? thought they were cornering the market or something.” Sans sounded curious, and you had to hide your surprise over that. It was probably the only other emotion, outside irritation and exhaustion, you’d heard his voice give.

“THE NEIGHBORS ATE DELIVERY GUY’S DOG.”

“yup. that’d do it.”

You looked up from your app and decided to finally take a step into the fray. “We could go out to eat?” Both of them stared at you. “You’re allowed to go out to the Recovery Town part of the Monster District. We could just, you know, go out instead of staying in. Party. Do literally anything that isn’t staying in this house.”

Sans raised a brow bone. “who pulled the cork out of your ass?”

Papyrus waved him off. “THE SAME REASON YOU SAID THE HUMAN SMELLS SO GOOD. SHE IS NOW COMFORTABLE AROUND US, AND WON’T COAT HER WORDS WITH ZERO CALORIE SUGAR SUBSTITUTES. YOU KNOW, SINCE YOU CAN’T HAVE SUGAR.”

“papyrus.”

“YES?”

“context.”

“WHAT? YOU SAID YOU CAN’T HAVE A SUGAR BABY.” 

Sans’ eye light expanded to take up the entire socket, and you couldn’t even see his blip of a black pupil anymore. You yanked up your glass and downed as much water as your mouth could hold to keep from laughing. 

“ANYWAY,” Papyrus said, ignoring his brother’s plight and your own contained laughing fit. “I THINK EATING OUT WOULD BE INTERESTING. IT’S BEEN FOREVER SINCE I LEFT THE HOUSE FOR SOMETHING OUTSIDE AN APPOINTMENT, AND SANS IS A HERMIT. HE JUST DOESN’T LEAVE. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS. IF IT’S HERMITING THEN AT LEAST DO IT WITH SANS. HE NEEDS SOMEONE OUTSIDE HIS RIGHT HAND.”

And that’s when your water shot out of your nose and you ruined your phone. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit of bonding, honestly. It also is VERY telling about what happened in the last chapter concerning Papyrus and him smelling his sheets for Reader's scent. The next chapter will be a bit longer, and I think ya'll will enjoy the crazy that ensues. 
> 
> Know what isn't crazy? My Tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	6. Speed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: None

“Oh, there’s a wing place.”  
  
“WINGS ARE INFERIOR TO A BREAST.”

“Then how about a fried chicken place.”

“TOO MUCH GREASE.”

Sans rolled his eye light. “the fuck is with you both and wanting chicken?”

You looked up from your place on the floor. “I’m just pissing in the wind, okay? How about you suggest something?”

“ribs.” He tapped his own with a banged up finger.

Papyrus gasped and leaned over his brother and shoved the phone in your face. You have to blink several times for the bright blues and reds to even out and become text. “PIZZA. IT HAS SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I CAN HAVE MY CHICKEN.”

You nod as you look over the various options for the restaurant. “It’s also in the Monster District, so you won’t get in any trouble for leaving it either.”

“hate to rain on ya’lls parade,” Sans said. “but will they serve monsters?”

Both you and Papyrus were quiet on that one. You knew from experience that many places refused to serve Monsters outside the district. You couldn’t imagine why an establishment would remain in a place that was now mostly populated by Monsters and then refuse to serve them. Not many humans came traipsing their way along here, and those that did only made their way to the borders of the district and not much further.

“WELL,” Papyrus said after a time. “WE’LL JUST HAVE TO SEE.”

“you mean waste time.”

“IT’S CALLED AN ADVENTURE, SANS.”

You snicker and go into your uber app to snag a car for the three of you. “It’ll be fun, Sans. At the very least we’re gonna go get something to eat.”

Sans is quiet but continues to glare at a wall while Papyrus gets up to go get ready. You fiddle around on your phone for awhile longer, going through some new texts that you got in the four hours it took to decide on dinner. One was from your mother, and announcing that she was getting a new dirt bike, and you got a series of pictures showing off the new blue darling. It was a decent model, and something you knew your mother would be able to handle with ease, if not get bored of in the next six months.

You told her how good it looks, and tell her to not bang it up too quickly before going to a text that Carol had sent you. It was a picture of one of those latte art things that she was so fond of. You started to input a reply when you felt your cheek buzzing and going numb. “humans like their shit fancy.”

You tilted your phone away from Sans who was squatting next to you. “Did anyone ever teach you that staring at another person’s phone is wrong?”

“technically, no,” he said. “but how else do you expect me to learn about you? you’re not much on talkin’ about yourself.”

“You don’t talk about yourself either.”

He stares at you for a long moment before he held out his ragged hand. “ ‘m sans the skeleton. i sleep all day. eat anything.”

You roll your eyes but take his hand regardless. “That’s hardly- AH!”

You rip your hand away and watched as blood oozed from a deep stab wound on your palm. You tear your gaze from the bright red of your blood to the amused red eye light that was staring at his own palm. His mouth parted just a crack, and you saw a thick blue slug like thing slide from between his jagged teeth. The red slid against the dark blue, and his sockets shut as he lapped at your blood.

You opened your mouth but you weren’t even sure _what_ was supposed to come out. Indignation, anger, fear, frustration? All of it swirled and twisted in your throat, but no words could back them and make the emotions come up properly.

It was at that point that Papyrus had entered the room, finally out of his jogging clothes from earlier, and now wearing his slacks and a button down shirt. “ARE We READY TO GO-" He paused when he saw the state of your hand. "HUMAN, WHAT HAPPENED?”

You swallowed thickly. “No clue.”

“REALLY?” He knelt down and helped you into a standing position, his fingers tracing just outside the pool of blood that was almost overflowing. “I’LL HELP YOU CLEAN THIS UP. SANS, GET READY FOR DINNER. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOUR IMITATION OF A ROTTING CORPSE WHILE THEY EAT.”

Sans rolls his eye light, but slides off the couch and heads down the hall and into the bathroom. You follow Papyrus into the kitchen, and he turns the water on before taking a towel and making it damp. “Papyrus, your brother is…”

“A MESS?”

“Yeah…”

“I THINK THERE’S ONE THING THAT YOU HUMANS FAIL TO REALIZE,” Papyrus said. “YOUR RE-EDUCATION PROGRAMS, YOUR THERAPISTS, AND THE PARADE OF PILLS YOU MAKE US SWALLOW IS VERY EFFECTIVE.” He dabbed the towel against the stab wound causing you to flinch. “BUT YOU ALL FORGET THAT ONE YEAR OF HARD WORK DOESN’T ERASE A MILLENNIA OF TRAUMA.”

“...”

  
“MY BROTHER LIVED ON INSTINCT BEFORE THE FOOD SHORTAGE WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN. IT TOOK A HUNDRED YEARS FOR HIM TO ACT ‘NORMAL’.”

"A hundred years?”

“YES.” He set the towel to the side and stared at you. “WHEN MONSTERS GO FERAL IT IS VERY HARD TO DRAG THEM BACK TO THEIR SENSES. MY BROTHER WAS CLOSE TO BEING FERAL AGAIN BEFORE ALIZA BROKE THE BARRIER. WHAT YOU SEE NOW IS JUST HIS HATRED FOR HUMANS AND HIS INSTINCTS COLLIDING. I SUPPOSE THE COCKTAIL MUST TASTE STABBY.”

“That’s not funny.”

“TO YOU.”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you drew back your hand, cradling it close to your chest. “I thought he wanted to avoid me?”

“I DID TOO.” Papyrus shrugged. “GUESS NOT. HAVE FUN WITH GETTING TORMENTED FOR THE NEXT HOWEVER LONG YOU STAY HERE.”

You don’t even dignify that with an answer as you walk out of the kitchen. However, if you had bothered to turn around, you would have seen a pale blue tongue lap at the bloody towel…

* * *

 

The under driver turned out to be a Monster. A rather bored looking rabbit Monster, and one that didn’t look the least bit pleased by having to cart around the skeleton Monsters you had brought outside. The drive out of the dilapidated suburbs is eerily quiet. Nothing but your own breathing, and the occasional shift of cloth from one of the other occupants in the car.

The Monster District’s shops and such really weren’t all that numerous. There were a few eateries, plenty of pharmacies, and the occasional general or dollar store. A church had set up shop, for whatever reason, and there was a fancy hotel too. The pizza place that Papyrus had picked out was one of those old brick buildings that had a bright neon sign on the outside. Through the window you could see mostly human patrons sitting at round tables, and eating from large platters filled with a variety of pizzas.

A bright eyed human was quick to greet you, albeit her gaze settled on Sans and Papyrus with some concern and fear. “A-ah, good evening. How many?”

“Three,” You said.

The girl nodded quickly, and herded you three to a table towards the back and far away from the window. She set a menu down for you all to share before whipping out a notepad and a red pen. “Anything to drink, uh… For all of you or…?”

“water.”

“A VIRGIN PINA COLADA.”

You looked over the drinks before shrugging. “Lemonade, please.”

The woman gave a sharp nod and hurried on her way, leaving the three of you alone in an uncomfortable silence once again. Your hand still stung, and the alcohol you had put on it hadn’t done you any favors. Your gaze shifted to Sans, who was idly staring at a poster of The Beatles hanging on the wall and tapping his ragged fingers against the wooden table.

“ISN’T THIS NICE?” Papyrus stretched his arms, his gloved hands almost touching the low ceiling of the establishment. “AND LOOK, YOU’RE NOT CONVULSING LIKE A FRYING FISH, SANS. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT!”

“heh, who would’ve thought…”

You stared at the two of them for several moments before shaking your head and leaning back in your chair. “So what do you guys wanna eat?” 

“FOOD.”

“anything.”

You wanted to make a snarky remark about how Sans would clearly eat anything, but you didn’t want to aggravate the skeleton. You knew that he was strange, and the minute that Papyrus left he would probably do something else to antagonize you.

“Well, why not a supreme pizza. It’ll have everything on it?” You point to the various crust options. “Could have cheese and bacon stuffed crust too.”

You could practically see stars in Papyrus’ eye sockets as he looked at the menu. “THAT SOUNDS AMAZING BUT YOU PAID FOR OUR RIDE HERE. AND…”

“we’re fuckin’ broke,” Sans said. “work and money’s pretty scarce.”

You held all the power in this scenario, and as you watched Sans not so discreetly watching you out of the corner of his eye, and Papyrus pointedly looking away, you felt almost high off this. You could deny them the food they clearly wanted, and show that Sans couldn’t push you around and try to be an intimidating bastard at every turn. Or you could keep the tender, albeit crazy, balance that you had managed to strike in the last week.

You stared at the menu for a long moment before shrugging. “It’s fine, Papyrus. I don’t mind paying for meals when we go out. You guys cook and clean, it’s the least I can do.”

Papyrus gasps, and you’re surprised to bright blue stars to spark in his eye sockets, and a bright pink flush to cover his cheek bones. “YOU’D REALLY DO THAT FOR US?”

“I just said I would.”

Papyrus dabs the sides of his eye sockets with a napkin. “I KNOW, BUT I HAVE TO BE SURE. I DON’T WANT TO LOOK STUPID AND ORDER A PINEAPPLE PIZZA INSTEAD OF THE GOD LIKE PIE YOU SUGGESTED.”

Sans’ eye light was practically riveted on you, and a few fingers slipped into his empty socket, his other fingers tapping harder against the table. “you’re just like an angel. givin’ free gifts, huh?”

“It’s not free. It’s practically part of my rent.”

You don’t get to say much more as the waitress comes back with your glasses and sets them all in front of you. Papyrus is quick to order the pizza, likely not wanting you to take back your generous offer, and before long your table is left alone once again. Papyrus downs his pina colada in one go, while Sans just stirs his ice cubes around with his straw, his gaze still riveted to you.

You take a sip of your lemonade, and a shiver goes through you thanks to the cold and the wonderful sour taste. The silence was now relaxed and easy for the most part. It was the sort of silence that you and Carol would lapse into after a long day of work. It made you nostalgic for those times but at the same time…

Well, there was a happiness bubbling in you as well.

That happiness grew when the pizza came, and the two Monster dug into the over stuffed and topped pizza. Papyrus managed to eat his first slice in one bite, while Sans began picking off all his toppings first before devouring the sauce covered crust. You grabbed the ranch and splattered some onto your red plate, before ripping off some of the crust and dipping it into the sauce.

“DOES THAT TASTE GOOD?” Papyrus asked.

You paused, the food inches away from your lips, and half of it already in your mouth. You glanced down at the strip of cheesy bread before looking back to Papyrus. His gaze was practically fused to the food between your fingers, and you swore you saw blue drool sliding out of his mouth. “You wanna try it?”

As soon as he nodded you held out the bit of food to him. Papyrus recoiled somewhat and looked to his brother. The shorter skeleton’s grip was so hard on his glass you could see cracks going up and down along the sides. “I-I’m NOT SURE-”

You pressed the bread against his teeth. “It’s cool. I’ve got plenty here for me.” Papyrus hesitantly opened his mouth and bit down on the food. He chewed it slowly, but his sockets were keenly watching as you smiled in approval. “Good?”

He pushed back the chair, and the scratching sound it emitted caught the attention of your neighbors. You watched in confusion as Papyrus hurried to the nearest waiter, and was directed in the direction of the bathroom.

“heh,” You frowned as you watched Sans steal the peppers off Papyrus’ pizza. “well ain’t that interesting.”

“Is he okay?”

Sans just shrugged. “who knows.”

“Should you check on him?”

The skeleton raised a browbone, but he looked as relaxed and as lazy as ever. “he’ll live.”

You didn’t like the flippant way that Sans was reacting to this, but he knew his brother’s tastes and habits better than you did. With a resigned ,sigh you continued to eat your food, occasionally dipping it in ranch.

* * *

 

Papyrus gripped the edge of the sink as he stared at the crusty mirror. His bones were rattling, his magic practically buzzing inside his body, and his face glowing that soft pink he hated so much. The human had not only bought them a meal, but she had given him some of her personal food for no other reason than to help him satisfy his curiosity.

Back Underground this was the equivalent of a marriage proposal.

“We’re not Underground,” His words were quiet and hoarse. “The human was being nice. We’re not Underground.”

Because of course that’s all it was. The human didn’t know his customs, and probably didn’t care to know either. It was common for food to be shared among strangers, and for them to give food as small gifts. It wasn’t a currency and the binding of a promise up here. It wasn’t what could drive a family to madness either. It was just…

Food.

Nothing.

Practically an inconvenience to some.

His grip loosened as he turned on the water and splashed some onto his skull, steam fogging the room the moment the droplet splashed on his bones. “Then why…?”

Why did he want to drag the human into his lap? To hold her close and wake to her pressing kisses along his bones? To make sure she stays fed and to have her feed him in turn? His soul burned at the thought of keeping her as a mate, forcing her on her knees, pressing his cock inside her and breeding her properly.

He shut off the water and stuck a hand into his pocket. With shaking fingers he put in the numerical code for his phone, and flipped through the contacts until he found a single number and pressed call.

It took only two rings for the person on the other end to pick up. “Hello?”

“MS. HATHWAY, THIS IS PAPYRUS SKELETON, I WAS HOPING TO BOOK AN EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT?”

“I’m sorry, Papyrus. Mr. Kennedy doesn’t have room for any emergency appointments.” The soft voice said on the other end of the line. “I can book you for Monday, if you’re okay with that?”

Papyrus fiddled with the knobs to the sink. “ARE YOU SURE?”

“I can try to talk to him when he’s finished with his current engagement,” she said. “I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

“THANK YOU…”

The dial tone is his only answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that went from zero to 100 real fucking fast. Well, not really... Not if you've seen the hints... Though, I wonder where Sans' mind is at. The gutter, probably...
> 
> Know what isn't in the gutter? My Tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	7. A Hit of a Blunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: Low

You yawned as you flopped onto the couch. The old springs whined and complained about your weight, but you ignored it as you pat your stomach. “That was so good.”

Sans flopped onto the floor, not even bothering to make it all the way to the couch. “yup.”

Papyrus shut the door behind the three of you and locked it. “IT WAS A MEAL…”

“Not impressed with it?” You asked.

Papyrus turned back to face you, and his face tinged with a hint of pink. “IT WAS ADEQUATE. NOT LIKE MY COOKING AT ALL, THOUGH.”

You shook your head. “You cook fancy type foods, Papyrus. Those really weren’t artisanal pizzas or anything like that. If you made one though?” She shrugged. “It would probably be like those fancy ones you get at the mall.”

“YOU THINK SO?”

"Yup. You’re good at cooking anything that isn’t spaghetti.”

He couldn’t cook spaghetti to save his life. Twice you had tried it, and twice you ended up vomiting it back up into the sink. You weren’t sure if it was because he didn’t read the directions, or was adding things to it that shouldn’t be added. You weren’t even sure how Sans could eat it with a straight face…

You were snapped out of your thoughts as Papyrus made his way to the bathroom. “I’M GOING to SHOWER. PLEASE DO NOT SLEEP IN HERE TONIGHT.”

“Okay.”

“sure, pap.”

He paused beside the hallway corner, his sockets narrowed. “I MEAN IT. BED.”

Sans gave him a thumbs up, and you decided to copy the action with a sleepy smile. He gave a sharp nod and headed off to finally take his shower. You let your arm flop onto the couch and groaned as you pulled yourself off the couch. You stepped over Sans and made your way to the room, stripping off your clothes as you went. You flopped onto the bed and just laid there for several moments, inhaling the lavender scent of the sheets, and adoring the feel of the blankets against your stomach.

You knew that you had to get up and get dressed eventually, but you were just so tired now. You’d stuffed yourself silly with food, and then the car ride home had been warm and quiet. The perfect environment for a nap that had been cut off far too quickly. Maybe you should just crawl under the blankets and pretend you got dressed?

With a huff, you pulled yourself forward, and with a little rolling around you managed to get under the thick comforter. The extra warmth made you yawn, and the softness had you cuddling into the pillow.

Before you knew it you were dead asleep…

* * *

 

The human was trying to kill him.

Papyrus was utterly sure of that as he stared at her half naked form curled up on his bed. Her chest rose and fell ever so slightly, and her lips were parted just enough for her breath to escape. She was so small and cute. _Vulnerable._ He could snap her neck and rip open her belly to get to her intestines if he wanted…

He shook his head and flipped the blankets back onto her, before ripping off the towel and throwing on his pajamas. He couldn’t think like that! Not now! Not about her! He needed to just get into bed, sleep, and find his balance again when his head was clear.

He heard the door creak open and could smell Sans walk into the room. “Brother?”

“hm?”

Papyrus turned around to look at the shorter skeleton. He didn’t seem to care that the human was so exposed, and merely rolled onto his side of the bed, covered up in the blankets and his jacket. “You don’t see the way the human is dressed?”

Sans cracked open his good eye socket. The light was dim and was barely formed into an iris and pupil. “they’re wearin’ clothes, paps. so what they’ve got meat showing? nothing we haven’t seen before.”

He wrung his fingers as he stared at the sleeping human. “But she’s _alive_ , Sans! I can feel her pulse, and how warm she is, and-”

“so?”

Papyrus’ fangs clicked together as his mouth shut. “You’re not weirded out by this at all, are you?”

“should i be?”

“...”

No, of course Sans wasn’t. Papyrus was certain his brother only knew about sex on a scientific level, and had never even properly engaged in the act. He had never smelled sex on Sans, and he knew his brother wasn’t prone to showering unless told or thrown into the sink before dishes were washed. And in a town where everyone knew everyone, Papyrus was certain he would have heard of Sans’ sexual escapades from someone during his patrols or when he had to drag his brother home from Grillby’s before the lean times.

So of course his brother didn’t understand why his magic was buzzing, and he could feel that familiar tugging down in his pelvis. His bones clacked together as he climbed into bed, and he had to keep his focus on his movements to keep his damn tongue from summoning. Once he was finally laying down he stared at the ceiling, and let his fingers curl into the soft blankets. He pretended he couldn’t feel her soft skin pressing against his legs, or smell her scent overpowering everything else in the room, or feel her hair tickling his face...

He rolled over and slammed the pillow over his head. “One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep…”

* * *

 

Monday didn’t come soon enough. As soon as his alarm clock went off Papyrus found that he was able to do almost anything he needed without his daily dose of caffeine. The human commented on how he had managed to ‘kick his addiction’, but he wasn’t able to even look her in the face when he gave her a dull reply. It was perhaps the only time he was thankful that she got whisked away for a call on her phone.

He had skittered out of the house after that, taking his bike up to the facility to check into his appointment. The mental hospital was a gigantic building with three wings, and four storeys to each wing. There was also a small garden close to the front of the facility, and all the trees and flowers were very healthy. Even from his place by the bike racks, he could see a few Monster’s in magic dampening clothes sitting in the sunshine while a few nurses and guards watched.

Papyrus hooked up the lock to his bike before hurrying into the building. A bored looking blonde sat at the desk and was scribbling on a sticky note when he walked up. “Excuse me, I need a patient pass.”

“Name?”

“Papyrus Skeleton.”

“Reason for coming?”

“Therapist appointment.”

The woman put her pen down, and typed something onto the computer. A grinding sound emitted from below the desk for a few seconds, before she ripped something off and handed him a white bit of paper with a barcode. “Down the hall to your left.”

He took the paper, and ripped the sticker off to put on his shirt. “Thank you.”

The woman didn’t reply, and Papyrus really didn’t expect her to. She had been like that since he left this place. Just like the walls were always a stark white, the halls eerily silent, and the smell of alcohol and antiseptic were clouding the air in a way that had his magic itching. Nothing about the mental facility changed expect the people inside it. Those that were ill were poked and prodded to become better, and those that were healthy became sick in a very different way.

It was funny, really.

Papyrus turned the hall and found himself staring at a familiar wooden door. Upon opening it he found himself in a white waiting room that was full of people. Some were humans nurses, while the others were Monster patients that were in a variety of phases. He went to a small scanner hooked up on a metal desk, and scanned the tag on his shirt before going to sit down in a chair next to a cat Monster. They were fiddling on their phone, and smelled so heavily of cigarette smoke that Papyrus was grateful that a bit of the outside world had snuck in and beat the chemicals of the hospital.

The metal door beside the desk opened, and a man leaned heavily against it. “Papyrus Skeleton?”

Papyrus shot up and went over to the door. The old man chuckled as he craned his neck to look at Papyrus’ face. “Ah, there you are. How have you been?”

“ I've been better.”

The old man nodded as he shut the door, leading Papyrus down the narrow hall. “I see. Would you like to talk about it?”

Papyrus waited until they entered the old man’s office. It was just as white as every other room in the hospital, but there were several snow globes on his desk. Each one had a human woman dressed up in a colorful dress. “THANKS TO A NEW PROGRAM A HUMAN LIVES WITH MY BROTHER AND I NOW.”

Dr. Kennedy nodded. “Yes, I heard that from Dr. Silas’ secretary. Are you upset about it?”

“I…” Papyrus stared at the flickering light overhead. “I DON’T KNOW. SHE IS DIFFERENT TO THE OTHER HUMANS. SHE ISN’T ALWAYS TELLING US HOW WE TALK AND ACT.”

“Has she interacted with Monsters before?”

“SHE SAID SHE HAD LIVED WITH ONE IN HER HOME BEFORE.”

“Then that’s likely why,” he said. “She might know that you don’t like being told what to do at every second of the day. Especially since you passed the evaluations and managed to leave here.”

“MAYBE…” His grip tightened on the plastic arms of the chair. “DOCTOR, HOW DO HUMANS SHOW AFFECTION TO EACH OTHER?”

Kennedy looked up from his notepad. “Affection?”

Papyrus nodded sharply. “TO A MONSTER AFFECTION WOULD BE SHARING FOOD, OR HELPING TO HEAL SOMETHING INSTEAD OF ALLOWING IT TO HEAL NATURALLY.”

The doctor was silent for several moments. “Well, that would depend on the person. Some humans display affection through hugs, and others will do it from small favors and gifts. Why don’t you ask her what she would think of as affection so your friendship can grow? It’s good to pursue your curiosity. You learn more about humans from interacting with them and trying their various rituals.”

“SO IT IS OKAY TO ENGAGE WITH HER THEN? I SHOULDN’T FEEL CONFLICTED?”

Kennedy nodded. “Exactly!”

Papyrus was quiet for several moments. “I THINK MY EMERGENCY HAS BEEN SOLVED NOW, THANK YOU, DOCTOR.”

The old man smiled. “You’re welcome. Though, while you’re here lets just run over a few things you spoke about last time. Specifically, your rut approaching.”

* * *

 

The sound of his bones rattling and the house creaking under his feet was the only thing to greet Papyrus when he came home. It was expected, he supposed. His brother avoided the human like the plague, and the human often seemed afraid of his brother. It was better than finding blood dripping on the floor, or dust covering the furniture, so Papyrus wasn’t going to complain too vehemently about it.

He stifled a yawn as he went down the hallway, just to hear the water beginning to run. He ignored it in favor of going to his brother’s room and pressing the side of his skull against the door.

Silence.

Satisfied, he went to his own bedroom, but stopped when he pressed his hand against the door. Inside the human was getting undressed. Through the crack in the door he could see all of her skin, and even some of her bones on occasion when she moved a certain way. It was the oddest thing to see, and yet he didn’t know why he felt that sting of his magic in his bones. Such a sight had made him hungry or repulsed before, but now it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

He stumbled backward as the door opened, and the human now clothed in her towel. She tilted her head when she saw him, an eyebrow raised. “Hey. How was the appointment?”

“TIRING,” He said. “EVEN I GET SICK OF TALKING ABOUT MYSELF AND MY MANY AMAZING QUALITIES.”

“Who would’ve thought.”

He ignored the biting sarcasm. “ARE YOU ABOUT TO TAKE A SHOWER?”

She nodded. “Yeah, ended up helping Sans clean out the sofa like you asked.”

Did he ask that before he left? He was so caught up in making it to his appointment that he didn’t even remember telling his brother goodbye. “YES, WELL THANK YOU. I WILL BE IN MY ROOM DOING THINGS TO MY BONES. PLEASE DON’T ENTER UNTIL I LEAVE MY ROOM.”

“I’ve got my clothes with me, so that won’t even be a problem.” She opened up the bathroom, and he could practically smell her ocean spray body wash. “See you later.”

Once the door clicked shut Papyrus scrambled back to his own room. He slammed the door shut and locked it before sitting on his bed. He popped open the button to his slacks and pulled out the cock that was steadily forming. Pale blue and long, there wasn’t much girth to brag about, but Papyrus had been told his length always made up for it.

His fingers curled around the base and he grabbed the blankets, bringing them up to his face so he could drown in the human’s scent. “Fuck I need you.”

He continued stroking his cock, his magic popping and crackling under his gloved hand. If the human was so keen on showing her affections to him, then he would do the same to her. The doctor said it was okay, that he was able to explore this. He wasn't doing anything to jeopardize himself or his brother's current position in life. It was like that old saying: Have your cake and eat it too. 

Cum spurt all over the blankets, and he watched it slip into the thick cloth. There was just a glimmer of magic to indicate that it had been absorbed at all, before that too faded into nothing. He wrapped that section around his cock and began rocking his hips, while images of the naked human danced in his head. Her legs spread, ass bouncing, fingers curled in these soiled blankets and screaming for him to stop. He grit his teeth and continued thrusting, the mattress squeaking under his work. If he shut his eyes he could imagine it was all thanks to the human's eager thrusts into his cock.

The part of his mind not consumed by lust was amused by all of this. Because, even in this state, he knew the truth...

All of this _was_ her fault. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus is broken! I repeat! Papyrus is broken! 
> 
> Know what isn't broken? http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	8. Crack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gore Warning: None

Warm.

The bed was so warm.

You curled your legs up further to your chest, and squeezed your eyes as tightly as you could. When you felt your muscles beginning to sting your eyes fluttered open, and it took a few moments for your eyes to adjust to the darkness around you. Slowly you sat up, and a whine escaped your mouth when you saw the green lights of the alarm glowing in the darkness.

12:09 A.M.

You flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.You could feel your left clavicle going numb thanks to the weird ‘breathing’ thing that Sans was doing on it, and Papyrus’ arms were wrapped snug around your waist. Part of you wanted to get up and go to the couch and watch some late night TV, while the other part of you was so… happy to see your housemates sleeping well. Papyrus was a light sleeper until it was time to get him up for coffee, and Sans rarely slept all through the night. Seeing them resting right now was such a nice change, and you didn’t want to spoil it.

A soft sigh escaped your lips and you shut your eyes again. You focused on the warmth around you, how nice it was to not be alone, and before you knew it your shoulders were relaxing into the comfortable mattress under you. The warmth around you began to pulse, and for a moment you saw a soft glow through your eyelids. Chalking it off as your roommates moving or using magic, you allowed yourself to be lulled deeper into the warm that had begun to concentrate around your hips.

It was a soothing warmth. The sort of warmth that would come from a fire after a long day romping through the snow. You couldn’t help it as your legs spread, and the warmth only burned hotter against your clothed pussy, and you could feel something rumbling against your clit. You opened your eyes briefly, but you couldn’t see anything in the darkness, and the odd blobs that was your roommates hadn’t even shifted. The warmth was gone too, now that you were thinking about it…

“Weird dream…”

Sans shifted, and slowly the room was illuminated in a dim crimson. The iris stared up at you, and for a moment you saw it shrink as he watched you press your thighs together. “what’s your problem?”

“Nothing,” you said. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

His eye light remained on you as he laid back down. “maybe you should keep your mouth shut then.”

“I didn’t think you’d wake up to the whispering of all things.”

“you’re right. ya didn’t think.”

Your nose wrinkled and your turned around and faced Papyrus instead. You didn’t have to deal with Sans bad mouthing you. Especially since the weirdo was supposed to be in his own bed anyway. Papyrus had a fit when Sans insisted on getting in the bed tonight, and that had only managed to egg the smaller skeleton on.

Your skin jumped when you felt the skin of your should begin to numb. “so what’re you dreaming about that makes you smell like that?”

“Huh?”

A sharp finger jabbed your thigh, and you reflexively jerked away from the pain. “smell good.”

“Oh,” You shrugged slightly. “I guess you’re used to me now? Papyrus said I’d smell better when you got used to me. “

**Clack**

**Clack**

**Clack**

“What’s that noise-”

“oh jeez,” You were surprised to hear Sans’ voice take on a lighter tone. It wasn’t bitter, nor was it that dull monotone. “you're really fucking naive.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “How am I naive? I’m going off what Papyrus told me, jackass.”

You could feel your cheek begin to numb, and sharp bones dig into your spine. “you’re given off a nuclear tonne of pheromones, ingenue.”

“Did you just call me naive all fancy like?”

The numbing and the pain in your spine disappeared, and you could hear the blankets shift before you heard gagging. “was gonna crawl out, but guess i’m trapped by your wild cunt.”

You could feel your face going warm. “Sans!”

“it’s the truth, ingenue.”

“So! Don’t say shit like that.”

Sans snorted, and you once again felt the numbing on your cheek. “what? want me to lie and say you smell horrible and not like something i should be humping the leg of?”

“Stop being weird!”

“i’m being sans.”

You groaned and hid a pillow over your head, trying to ignore the clacking sound coming from the skeleton behind you.

* * *

 

Papyrus sipped at his coffee despite the fact his summoned tongue stung from the heat. Instead he focused on the taste of vanilla, the thickness of the caramel, and the intoxicating smell coming from his blankets. His magic had faded from the sheets by now, but the smell of his human’s arousal was still there, lingering in the air and teasing him. He shut his sockets and bathed himself in that scent, completely ignoring the contents in his mug. He could practically taste her arousal over the coffee…

His sockets snapped open as his human entered the room. She gave him a small smile as she grabbed her phone off the wall charger, and went back into the living room. Papyrus shook his skull, and set his empty mug on the bedside table. “She’s driving me insane.”

She had accepted the mark of his territory. She had even enjoyed it if that smell was anything to go by. So why wasn’t she making any other sign that she approved of any more advances? Humans didn’t have the same tendency for scent the way that Monsters did, so that couldn’t be her signaling her approval, could it? Not unless she was using her knowledge on how Monsters enjoyed the scents of those they were comfortable with?

He sat on the bed and grabbed the blankets. He brought them up to his skull and felt his magic burn against his bones as he drowned in her scent. He could feel a tug in his pelvis, and he didn’t bother to stop himself as he felt the writhing magic press against his slacks.

“wow, didn’t know you had a cotton fetish.”

Papyrus jumped and dropped the blanket onto his lap. Bones rattled together and a hint of his eye lights igniting in his sockets. “B-BROTHER, YOU SCARED ME.”

The shorter skeleton stared at him from his place beside the door. “couldn’t tell.”

Papyrus watched his brother enter the room and kick the door shut with his slippered heel. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE ANYWAY? I THOUGHT YOU HAD AN APPOINTMENT TODAY?”

“just got back.” He pulled a yellow slip of paper out of his hoodie pocket, and set it on Papyrus’ lap. “Next appointment’s next week.”

Papyrus picked up the slip of paper, and began reading through the sloppy scrawl. “I WILL ADD IT TO THE LIST. THANK YOU FOR REMEMBERING TO BRING THIS TO ME INSTEAD OF VOMITING IT IN MY TRASH CAN.”

“eh, considering the way you and the human’s been hormonal i don’t wanna be anywhere near it.”

Papyrus looked up sharply. “YOU NOTICED…?”

Sans raised a brow bone. “kinda hard to miss.”

Cloth shifted against cloth, and Papyrus looked down at the doctor’s note again. “Are… Are you ashamed of me? For loving a human?”

“hey, pretty sure humans have things for their animals too.”

“She’s not a food source, Sans.” The paper wrinkled under his grip. “She’s a being with a soul. It beats, and pulses, and glows just like ours.”

“and it cracks, spews magic, and can make us full when shattered on her skin,” Sans said. “ain’t nothing special about this one.”

“Then that means we should have killed Aliza too!”

“we tried to.” Sans shrugged. “ ‘sides, she got out fair and square. she earned her place above the rest. not all the snails can earn the blue ribbon, paps.”

“...”

Sans pat Papyrus’ shoulder. “human’s a human, pap. nothing ever changes.”

Papyrus looked up from the paper, his eye lights just a hint brighter in his sockets. “You changed.”

Sans’ eye light took up his entire socket, and the black pupil was drowned in the crimson depths, his smile stretching far too wide on his face. Papyrus had seen that look so many times, and at one point he had been giddy whenever he got that way.

A promise of food.

He waited for Sans to lash out, to use magic, to do anything at all… Instead, he jabbed a hand in his eye socket, effectively tearing the scar there, and began pulling at it with hard jerks of his wrist.

**_Scrape_ **

**_Scratch_ **

**_Scrape_ **

“Brother?”

“what, pap?”

Papyrus stood up and the blanket fell to the floor. He easily stepped over it, and grabbed a bright blue tack out of a box. “I love the human. I want her as a mate. I want her to have my children. I think…” He pressed the appointment paper on the corkboard and measure it against a prescription sheet. “I think she may be my soulmate.”

The scratching stopped for a moment, and the swollen eyelight stared at the taller skeleton. “yeah?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Sans stared at his brother for a moment longer, and his iris began to shrink back to its usual size. “then i guess she’s off the menu if this entire thing goes to shit, huh?”

“I would hope so.”

Sans sighed and ripped his fingers out of his eye socket, splashing a bright blue liquid all over the wall. “fine. your soul got chummy with the worst soul around, you know that?”

“I am aware brother,” The smile on his face was wide. “But I will never regret it.”

“say that now.”

Papyrus stabbed his pin into the corkboard. “No, I’m sure of it.”

* * *

You stared at the series of questions glowing on the screen of your phone. You missed the days when you had assumed that x behavior was normal, or just an odd quirk of the Monster you were speaking to. Answering the survey had been so much easier, and didn’t make you wonder if you should say anything or not. You had seen your bank account earlier that morning, and seeing the sizeable amount sitting in there had been a comfort. Being a secretary for a snippy and lecherous doctor had not been a prosperous way to earn money. Not even her hush money had made a massive dent in your bank account.

You supposed, in a funny way, this was what you got for skipping out on college. Your pickings were slim, and now you had to deal with whatever was handed to you. At least, that was what your boss would have told you, anyway. But what she didn’t seem to comprehend was that your years of dealing with insufferable people like her behind a counter had helped temper your temperament to deal with Sans’ random bouts of assholery, or to maneuver around Papyrus’ obnoxiously organized lifestyle.

And it all paid _well_.

Right now you were gunning for a small boat to take out fishing some time. Maybe even get a ticket to go see _Cabaret_ live sometime. Hell, you might just blow the entire thing on a new dirt bike if all else failed. You missed being able to go through the mud during warm summer nights in that old field behind your house…

You licked your lips and groaned. “Now I’m craving a rootbeer.”

The brothers weren’t allowed to have any booze, and you couldn’t bring any into the house either. With a grunt, you pulled yourself off the couch and slipped your feet into your shoes. You took a minute to check your face in your phone camera before slipping the device into the pocket if your jeans. Well, if you couldn’t have booze here, there wasn’t any law in saying she couldn’t go out for some…

Right?

"Papyrus! Sans! I'm going out!" You took your key from the designated bowl on the table, and slipped those into your back pocket, waiting for any kind of reply from your roommates. 

But nobody came. 

You sighed as you made your way to the door. None of this should surprise you, really. Sans was probably napping, and Papyrus usually spent the afternoons cleaning his room anyway. If they got worried about you, well if _Papyrus_ did, then he could always send you a text. Those two were hardly children, and you weren't their babysitter sneaking out to go awkwardly fuck the head cheerleader. 

They'd be fine. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, Sans' pet name for Reader is a trope I hate. Fucking bastard. Hopefully Paps will pick something I won't despise having to type. XD
> 
> Know what I don't despise? My tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	9. Speed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: N/A

The bar smelled like tobacco smoke, and freshly grilled burgers, with a hint of salt and sweat. There was a large bit of space where people wriggled and ground against the pop music over the speakers, there were bar stools everywhere, and you had stepped over more than one filled condom. It wasn’t seedy, but the crowd of brightly painted men and women was more than enough to throw someone into a pit of delirium. 

You groaned as you sat down on a barstool set up by the bar, and leaned against the warm surface. The bartender was, interestingly enough, a bat like Monster. They cocked their head to the side, and their large yet ripped ears swiveled in your direction. “I’ll have a mango sangria, please.”

The Monster nodded, and they began getting your drink together. You tapped your fingers to the beat of a rap song that came on, and texted on your phone with the other hand. As you read a text from Carol a grin curled on your lips. 

You hit call and only had to wait a few moments before a feminine voice answered. “Hello?” 

“Hey, Carol,” you said. “I’m at Kiki’s. You wanna have some drinks with me?” 

A sharp gasp was heard on the other end of the line followed by rapid fire Spanish. There was someone else talking in the background, and from the sound of it, the person was irritated. A moment later Carol spoke to you again. “I’m on my way. I’m gonna be in my scrubs though. Not too lame for you?” 

“Your ass will still be showing off, so no.” 

Carol gave a sultry laugh and told you she’d be there in ten before hanging up. You sighed and put your phone back in your pocket, just for your glass to be set in front of you by a thin hand. You looked up and thanked the Monster, and handed them your card before taking a sip of your favorite drink. The fruit had a light bite from the white wine and vodka added to the mix, and you could feel some of your worries rolling off your back. 

You had gotten halfway done with your drink when you felt a hand on your shoulder and could smell spicy tang of cinnamon and mint. You turned around and grinned when you saw the grinning woman behind you. One of your arms wrapped around her narrow waist. “Hey, Carol!” 

She grinned and sat in the barstool next to you, and pushed back some of her dark hair out of her face. “Hey! I’m surprised to see you all in one piece. Thought half your face would be bitten off or something.”

You rolled your eyes as you flagged down the bartender. “No. My roommates are good guys. They’ve been able to rip me a new one this entire time, but they haven’t bothered to.” 

“Right.” Carol’s attention was eaten up by the bartender, and she ordered her usual mojito. “Anyway, I heard from Martinez that the program you’re apart of might be happening for other people.” 

“Martinez doesn’t know jack.” 

“Does too. He’s got pictures of the documents.” 

  
You raised an eyebrow. “You know, he’s gonna get caught, and that cushy secretary job he’s got is gonna go to someone else.”

“I told him the same thing.” Carol admitted with a shrug. “The tabloids pay pretty good though. We got Rosa into a decent violin program with his last cut.”

“I saw the Facebook post,” You said. “Congrats. Hope she enjoys herself.” 

Carol opened her mouth, but it snapped shut when the bartender came back with her drink. After paying for it, her attention went back to you. “Stop changing the subject to my kid. Tell me about your roommates. What are they like?” 

You swirled your cup around, and watched the thick chunks of mango bob in your drink. “Well, they’re skeleton Monsters first and foremost. And they’re okay guys, like I said. Sans is an edgy bastard, but Papyrus is way more laid back and… Well, I guess he’s passive aggressive.” 

“Seriously? Sounds like a pain.” Carol sipped away at her drink, and her dark brown eyes wandered your face. “Seriously, they’re not hurting you or anything?”

“No, Carol.” 

She raised a manicured hand. “Alright, alright… How about looks?” 

“Seriously?” 

She shrugged. “Hey, I’ve seen some good looking Monsters. If Martinez wasn’t the love of my life I’d go after a few of them.” 

“You’re just a kinky bitch.” 

“That too!” 

You sighed and finished your drink, letting the alcohol buzz pleasantly in your head. You’d never really thought about Sans or Papyrus in that sort of way. The main reason being that they were skeletons. How would one get attracted to what was basically your rotten and then cleaned down insides? Papyrus claimed that you wouldn’t be a necrophiliac, but you couldn’t let the feeling of how…  _ weird _ that would be escape you. 

Maybe you were just being an ignorant human. A little more booze would help your thoughts jog along to the beat of this thought. 

“Bar tender!”

* * *

 

Two shots of vodka later, and you were happily leaning against the bar while Carol showed you pictures of her kid. The three year old was a chubby thing with long braids, a toothy smile, and large eyes. 

  
“She keeps asking for a sister,” Carol said. She was still sober, and wasn’t even halfway done with her first drink. “Martinez is thinking about adopting.” 

“Oh, that’s not surprising. He was adopted too, right?” 

“Yup! Plus, you know, he’s not a fan of sex in the first place. I was lucky to get Rosa.” Her motherly smile was dashed when you snatched her phone. “What are you doing?” 

“You asked if I like my roommates, so I wanted to find porn!” 

Rosa’s face went red as a fish Monster popped on screen. They had a human dick in their mouth and another one in their ass. “Huh…” 

None of the humans or Monsters around you seemed to care as the video started, and loud moans and dirty talk spilled out of the phone’s speaker. You raised an eyebrow as you watched for a few moments, and you could feel a wave of nausea fill your stomach as you watched the act. The human dick was far too veiny for your tastes, and there was something sickening about the Monster in general that you couldn’t put a finger on. 

You backed out of the video and clicked on another one. This one was of a busty human, and behind her was a wolf Monster with crooked and blood stained teeth. You watched the human’s tits bounce when the video started, and that cock with a thick knot at the base go in and out of the porn star’s cunt…

Once again all you felt was disgust.

Your gaze trailed up to the Monster’s teeth, and your mind wandered to Papyrus. His teeth were stained and crooked, even with the help of all the equipment on his teeth, but there was something charming about it. 

A hand hovered over your lips, and you wondered what it would be like if you were to kiss him. Papyrus didn’t have lips, so it would probably be awkward, but he had gusto so you were sure it would work out somehow. 

You bet he tasted like coffee. 

“Wow,” You jump when you catch Carol staring at you. “Didn’t take you for a Monster fucker.”

“...” 

“I mean,” She leaned against the bar top. “You’re just way more responsible than I’ve ever been. All no nonsense and shit. Guess it makes a little sense, you like getting tied up and slapped in bed.” 

You pushed the phone back into Carol’s hand. “Shut up.” 

“Maybe you should do something about your itch.” She began tapping at her phone, no doubt deleting her history. “You should seduce them!” 

“No.” 

“Yes!” 

She pushed her drink over to you. “Finish that up and then go home. Go suck on some bones!”

You picked up the drink, and the water beading on the glass helped cool your warm skin. What would their bones taste like? Considering how much coffee Papyrus consumed you wouldn’t be surprised if the stuff managed to make it down into his bones too. Maybe the cream would as well, that hazelnut and vanilla cream was pretty yummy…

You downed the rest of the drink, and pushed the glass back to Carol as you hopped off the bar stool. This was such a bad idea, and you knew that it was likely to get you in so much trouble, but your tongue wanted to touch Papyrus. You wanted him to hold you, and kiss you, and…

You wanted everything he could give you. 

Was that bad? Afterall, Dr. Silas had told you so many times to not get attached to your roommates. That the fact all three cores of your souls were now connected would make you feel things. He knew you were professional, but you were also human and they made mistakes, right? 

You pushed open the door of the bar, and the cool air did little to clear your head as you stumbled outside. If anything it teased your nipples through your thin shirt and bra, and you couldn’t help but pull your shirt just a bit tighter against you so the rough materials would give you some form of stimulation. God you were being such a whore right now, and you probably wouldn’t even make it home at this rate. You really wished that Papyrus could meet up with you and fuck your brains out against a wall. Your screams echoing loud enough for everyone to hear, and for some curious soul to catch you and end up watching in disgust…

This was gonna be a long walk...

* * *

 

Papyrus looked up from the video he was watching as a sweet smell filled the house. His gaze shifted to his brother, who had looked up from his book with a raised brow bone. “Brother, isn’t that the human?” 

“yup.” Sans tossed his book onto the table, and pushed himself off the couch. Just as he reached the door it slammed open, and the human stood on the porch with a large smile on their face. “the hell is wrong with you? could smell you all the way in here.” 

Papyrus watched as his human shuffled into the house and shut the door behind them. The smell was so much stronger now, and Papyrus could feel a slight buzzing in his mouth as his tongue was summoned. “HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” 

They nodded as they kicked off their shoes and vaulted over the couch. They landed dangerously close to him. Their scent was all he could smell, and he could see a wet splotch on their shorts. 

His little human was aroused? 

By what? 

Who did this to them? 

“Papyrus,” He jolted as they clambered onto his lap, and their hands gripped his shoulders to try and keep steady. “I- I wanna smooch you. Is that okay?” 

He looked to his brother, but Sans was nowhere to be found. There wasn’t even the bright blue splash of the gunk from his eye on the walls. His gaze shifted back to the human, and his tongue snaked out of his mouth to caress his fangs when he saw just how close their face was. If he leaned forward just half an inch he could kiss them. Humans liked to be kissed when they were mated, at least that was what he had read in those magazines at the dump. If he kissed them then he could force them onto the table and fuck them properly. 

Perhaps there was Sans to worry about, but he doubted his brother would care too much. After all, their talk earlier had left his brother calm and pacified for now. Perhaps seeing the human docile and covered in his cum would make Sans accept his choices a bit more? 

He scooped his human up, and they nuzzled into his chest when he did. Grinning he pet their head with a gloved hand as he kicked open his brother’s bedroom door. His brother was on his bed, and was curled up into his dingy sheet. That bright red eye light stared as Papyrus walked into the room, and set the human on the bed next to him. 

“Sans, I want you to be comfortable in this house when the changes happen.” 

“...”

Papyrus curled two fingers into the human’s shirt, and with little effort, the fabric was torn away and tossed into the abyss of a mess that was his brother’s room. The human gasped and their back arched, presenting their clothed chest to them both. 

Sans’ eye light swelled in the eye socket, and he stiffened inside his cocoon. “pap, the fuck are you doing?” 

“About to fuck me.” The human said with a lazy eye roll as they struggled with their bra. 

Sans pushed a pillow into their face. “you’re seriously gonna fuck a human? paps, this isn’t like one of those stupid heat trainers. human fuck toys are addictive, alright? you’re gonna end up back sliding if you start this up.” 

“And why are they addictive?” He decided to give the whining human mercy by throwing off their bra. “I think you just don’t want me fucking humans.” 

Sans rolled his eye light. “yeah, that’s it. i’m just an old racist shit tard. nothing to do with humans that have the tendency to endure. no, not it at all.” 

“Sans, the passive aggressive sarcasm is my schtick.” 

Sans sighed and dropped the pillow before flipping onto his back. “do what you want paps. just don’t wanna see you wind up back in that place.” 

Papyrus stared down at the human. Their breathing was heavy, eyes dilated, and he could still smell their arousal despite being in the middle of his brother’s territory. Their hand reached up and cupped his cheek, and he couldn’t help himself as he leaned into that soft touch. His other hand snaked down to their bottoms, and curled his sharp claws into the fabric. It took little effort to shuck the denim off their body, and to expose their cunt to him. 

“Now Sans, I present to you,” He spread their legs, so that their throbbing cunt was perfectly on display. “my mate.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that got fast... Fast. I wonder why...
> 
> Know what doesn't wonder? My tumblr! http://nihilismpastry.tumblr.com/


	10. Methamphetamine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: none

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I actually have something important to say down at the bottom notes today, so if you could take the time to read that, it'd be swell. Anyway, I won't hold you up anymore, please enjoy the new chapter!

Your fingers curled around soft material, and your legs slowly curled up to your chest. The simple action caused your muscles to burn, and a soft whine escaped your lips. Your eyes fluttered open, and you found yourself staring at scarred ribs that had chunks missing from some of the rungs, and others had words carved into them. It looked like a mural on a decrepit building that had been lost and destroyed by time. Your gaze followed the ribs upto a long neck, and finally to Papyrus’ sleeping face. A pale blue covered his cheekbones, and his sockets were shut in a relaxed way. 

You slowly shift around, a burning igniting along your back as you did, and found yourself staring at Sans. He was fully clothed, and his face was dyed the same shade of bright blue as his brother’s. You were surprised to find that a pillow was stuck between the two of you, as if you had some kind of disease and Sans was trying to keep it away from him. Your nose wrinkled, and you sighed as you shifted onto your back and stared at the ceiling. You supposed you didn’t blame him, drunk breath wasn’t the most pleasant thing to smell on the planet, and it must be worse for beings that had a better sense of smell. 

“Oh jeez…”

Well, at least you were dressed in your night clothes. It also felt like you had a bath, your skin was so soft and smelled like blue raspberry. You wondered if the boys had to take care of any drunken humans before, or even each other if they ever got in such a state. You could see Papyrus being a lightweight when it came to alcohol, and Sans seemed to be the type that would take care of his little brother if he ever came home in such a state. You glanced back to Papyrus, and a soft smile curled on your lips as your arms reached out and ever so carefully pulled him into a hug. 

Was it wrong to do? 

Maybe. 

But feeling his bone bite through your thin t-shirt felt good, and feeling the feather like weight of his skull on your chest felt reassuring. 

You glanced out the window, and stared at the star speckled sky. The moon was hanging low and shined bright. It illuminated the room, which had clothes strewn all over the place, towels were laid at on the edge of the bed, and you you could see your drawer on the bedside table open and none of the contents inside. Considering you were wearing your only pair of night clothes that didn’t surprise you, but it did surprise you was the fact that Papyrus allowed the bedroom to remain such a mess. You had seen him mo the entire kitchen floor after dropping a single ice cube, allowing his personal space to become such a mess was completely out of character...   
  


A soft sigh escaped the taller skeleton, and you were shaken out of your thoughts. “What time is it?” 

“No clue.” You glanced down to look at Papyrus, and found the edges of his permagrin pulled up in a real smile. “I’m pretty sure it’s after midnight though. I doubt Carol would let me leave a bar before then.” 

“It was one in the morning when you came home.” One of Papyrus’ long arms reached behind him, and after some groping found his phone. The screen illuminated the room a bit more, and you noticed that there was something blue splattered on the edge of the device. “It is only six in the morning.”

You hummed and shut your eyes, pointedly ignoring the shining light trying to infiltrate your eyelids until it finally clicked off. “Perfect time to go back to sleep.” 

Papyrus gave a low chuckle, and you could feel his long arm curl around your waist, and his head settle on your tits. The flesh began to numb, and your nipples became pebbled and erect as he ‘breathed’ on them. “I will admit that you do deserve the rest.” 

“Yeah, drinking takes a lot outta me. That’s why I don’t do it that much.” You gave a small chuckle. “I’m such a lightweight.” 

For a moment the room was as silent as a tomb, and you swore you felt a slight jerk on your chest. It wasn’t bone, or the tug of cloth, but something far more intimate and tugged in a far deeper place than on the surface of your body. 

“Drinking?” Papyrus’ voice raised just a tad. “That wouldn’t require rest?”

“I was a lazy bum all day yesterday.” You gave a small shrug, and finally opened your eyes again. Papyrus stared up at you with furrowed brow bones. “I wouldn’t need rest from anything else.” You were quiet a moment, and playfully pushed his shoulder, desperately wanting that hurt and confused look to go away. “I mean, not unless you convinced me to run a marathon in my sleep! Not quite my thing, if I’m honest.” 

You jumped as Papyrus sat up and loomed over you. The blankets slipped off both your bodies, and you shuddered as the warmth of the room was sucked away by the skeleton’s shadow. There was a small hiss from Sans, but the room soon plunged into silence once again. You stared at those empty eye sockets, and once again you felt a tug from deep inside you. Your mouth tasted bitter, and it went beyond the stale food and sour alcohol. 

You wanted to cry?

Why did you want to cry? You were telling the truth, weren’t you? And besides, you hadn’t done anything to Papyrus or vice versa. There was no reason for you to cry in this scenario, but the thought made you swallow around sandpaper and your lips tremble. 

“Papyrus-” 

“I will make us breakfast, human.” He crawled off the bed, and grabbed his shirt off the floor, and shoved it over his head. “Please wake Sans up.” 

You scrambled up, hand outstretched. Wy was he leaving you? What did you do wrong? “Wait, Papyrus-” 

**_Slam!_ **

Your heart jumped at the loud noise the door made upon shutting, and your eyes began to sting. The room was plunged into silence once more, but there was something so deep and immense about it. 

You felt alone…

Well, nearly...

You glanced back to Sans, who was still slobbering all over a pillow, and looked completely unperturbed by the loud noise you and the door had made. You took a shuddering breath, and grabbed the ‘divider pillow’ with both hands, before burying your head in the soft fabric. You took in a deep breath, and picked up the scent of stale ketchup, coffee, and something unbearably sweet that made your mouth water and warmth bloom between your legs. 

“It smells like them…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. So recently my Tumblr was destroyed by the Tumblr Staff. Meaning, you can't find me at that old address. The new one I'll be posting below is where you can now find me, updates on how this story is coming along, give aways, and things like that. Trust me, I'm not exactly happy 'bout the news, but there's no point in sulking! 
> 
> Anyway, onto the story notes... Yeah, Reader is pretty attached to Papyrus. I wonder if it's thanks to what Papyrus did, or is it the natural course of being a soulmate. Who knows...
> 
> Know what does know? My Tumblr! https://nihilism-pastry.tumblr.com/


	11. LSD Laced Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: Low

Sans popped open the cap of the pill bottle and spilled two of them on the counter. Small, yellow, and tasted like a rusted tin can that had sat in stagnant water too long. The doctor claimed they would help with his memory issues, and begrudgingly Sans had to admit that could be pretty damn helpful, but this was the one time he wished they would leave him gagging and not remembering what year it was. 

His gaze shifted from the pills, and over to the table where his brother was staring out the window and stirring his coffee. He’d been standing there for ten minutes now and not moving on from the basic task. The coffee was probably an icicle by now, and Papyrus had spilled half of it all over the wooden table too. His gaze shifted once more, and he caught sight of the human cuddling into his beaten and worn pillow. Her eyes were puffy, and her jaws were clenched and taut behind her delicate skin. He was pretty sure she wasn't making any attempts to deal with that damn hangover either. 

They were a fucking mess. 

He grabbed his pills and dumped them in his mouth. They swirled around with his magic, and it didn’t take long for his skull to buzz with a feeling that wasn’t unpleasant, but would eventually cause him to conk out regardless how mentally or physically exhausted he actually was. “hey, paps?” 

“Yes?” 

He jabbed a thumb behind him. “gonna go get some muffins. what flavor are ya wanting?”   


“...”

No response. 

Course not. 

Why'd he think consumption would suddenly drag his brother's skull out of his own ass. 

He closed the pill bottle, and put it back with the multitude of others that helped him ‘function’. He glanced back to Papyrus one more time, before taking down a green pill bottle and shoving it in the deep pockets of his hoodie. After shutting the cabinet he shoved his hands in his pockets, and made his way into the living room. The human’s head shot up, and she watched him go to the front door and slip on his shoddy tennis shoes. “what? you want muffins too?” 

“P-please don’t...” 

He raised a brow bone at that. Needy humans weren't exactly the newest concept, but he didn’t think one screw up would have the human so firmly attached to him. If it wasn’t concerning he might have let his mind go down some roads that were stupid, illogical, and even a bit fun.

He gave a crooked grin. “well, lil human. not all of us get what we wish for. bring you back an apple crisp?”

"..."

Sans opened up the front door, and made his way into the sticky warmth of the outside world. A few Monsters stood at their doors to watch the sunrise, and a few others were checking their mail. A few of them quickly looked away from his hulking form, and others would give him a shaky smile and something that might count as a wave. He didn't wave back or acknowledge them, he was in a hurry afterall. 

Once he rounded a corner, magic spurt out of him and around the sidewalk like an invisible snake. When he walked through the corner he found himself standing between two brick walls. Stagnant puddles and crushed soda pop cans littered the alleyway, and a hooded human leaned against the faded brick of a wall. They looked up sharply as Sans approached, and a grin stretched out on their gaunt face. “Thought you were chickening out, yeah?” 

He dug a hand in his pocket, and tossed him a bottle of pills that the human’s shaking fingers almost didn’t catch. “so you  got news for me?”

The pill bottle was popped open, and Sans watched as the human tossed back three grey pills. “Silas keeps the soul cores under lock and key, Bones. You need a fingerprint to open up the lab at all. Looks like you’re shit outta luck.” 

“far as you know.” He watched the human slowly stopped shaking. “i need you to do something for me, martinez. book me down for silas’s next week.”

Martinez snorted and shook his head, sweat slick hair clinging to his forehead, “Yeah, right! The good doctor keeps that book on him at all times. Ain’tnow way you’re gonna get in without an appointment. From what I heard, you’re not even a threat anymore.” He shrugged. “Could always knock around Carol’s friend. She’ll run over to our place, and you can get the hell out of the city.” 

Sans tapped his hip as his brain slowly began to absorb the information presented. Silas worked with the Monsters who were at risk for going ‘feral’, as the humans so kindly put it. That typically meant the Queen, and most of those who had to do the back breaking work to try and find food. It was true that a violent outburst from him would land him right back in Silas’s care, but that would mean being away from his brother…

That would also mean risking his brother’s wrath regarding his ‘mate’.

“tell ya what,” he said. “i’ll pay you triple what i have been.”

Martinez’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit! Monster's don't have that kinda money!” 

“nah, i got the cash.” He pulled out a bundle of cash from his pocket, and Martinez’s jaw went clenched as he watched Sans handle the paper. “three thousand right here. won’t gotta sweat your kid’s birthday or education for awhile.” 

“...”

“and all ya gotta do is write a few lines in a book-”

“Fine!” Martinez pushed himself off the wall. “But if you get caught, I didn’t know shit. Got it?” 

“loud and clear.” 

Martinez held out a hand, and Sans passed over half the cash in the stack. Martinez shoved it in his pocket, and left the alleyway with hunched shoulders, his gait slow and stumbling. 

Sans sighed and leaned against the cold wall and shut his sockets. There goes his entire nest egg of funds, but it was definitely worth it. When he shoved the core of their souls back in their proper places, and they could finally leave this hell hole…

Well, things would be better all around. 

He tilted his head back, and opened up his eyes sockets. He watched smog curl through the air and leave its filthy touch on the once blue sky. “wonder how the human’s doing…

* * *

 

You curled up further in the warm couch and stared at the bright screen of your phone. Your eyes burned, and you were could feel the uncomfortable drag of hair was plastered to your tear stained face. You’d been doing nothing but crying since Sans left. Your heart ached and throbbed in your chest, as if he had up and abandoned you instead of going to get some damn breakfast food. 

You scrubbed a clammy hand at your face until it left your nose sore and cheeks slick with more tears and went back to straining your eyes on the bright screen of your phone. “Focus…”

**_How are you feeling?_ **

_ Tired.  _

**_Did you take your medications?_ **

_ Yes.  _

**_Does your soul hurt?_ **

You stared at the screen with narrowed eyes, a hand reaching up to clutch at your chest as if it was your life line. Was the heartache really soulache, or were you just being weepy and emotional for no reason? You’ve been known to do that from time to time around the holidays, but it was nowhere nearly as crushing and alln consuming as it was right now.

However…

What would be the consequence if you said that your soul  _ did  _ hurt? Would they run all those tests on you again? Would they pry your soul of your chest and shove it into all those weird machines and gizmos that filled the soul lab? Would they throw your entire body into that skull shaped machine that smelled like mold and blood? Just the thought of being shoved into the cramp and cold space made your skin crawl and your stomach lurch violently in protest.

You bit your lip, and quickly typed out a question in the glowing box. 

_ No.  _

“Human.” You looked up from the phone, just to find Papyrus standing in the doorway. He had his mug in hand, and his brow bones were furrowed. It was so odd hearing him speak so quietly. It was something you were so used to, you almost thought you were wearing noise dampening earplugs. “May I ask you an important question?” 

You turned off your phone screen. “Um, sure.” 

He stared at you for a long moment, before he used dimly glowing magic to send the mug over to the table with a soft clink. “Do you remember anything that happened after you came home last night? Anything at all?" 

“I came home and went to bed.” You raised an eyebrow. “Did anything else happen?” 

His fingers flexed for a moment or two, before taking three large steps to stand directly in front of you.”A miracle happened last night, and I believe that you don’t remember it. I should have told you directly when you woke up, but I was so upset that you seemed to have no recollection of it.” He shook his head. “I was childish. I apologize.” You watched as he knelt down, and took both of your hands in one of his large ones. “Such communication shall be avoided at all costs. From now on we are bound to each other.”

“And that means...?” 

“We are soulmates!” You shifted on the couch, and you couldn't help but flinch when his grip on your hands tightened. “You have nothing to fear anymore. I will do my best to protect you, and make you happy in this world!”

Soulmates? Did he seriously think humans and Monsters could be compatible as anything other than allies? Maybe even friends? You had heard of a few Monsters having a fetish for humans, and vice versa, but you'd never heard it framed in such a way. 

“Papyrus, soulmates don’t exist. And trying to frame your weird fetish like they do is disgusting.” You yanked back your hands, your phone falling to the floor with a clatter. “Humans and Monsters aren’t supposed to be in relationships. It’s part of the rules, and it's jotted down for good reason. It's dangerous!"

His eye sockets watched you steadily as you curled your knees up to your chest. “I UNDERSTAND THAT THE RULES DO NOT CARE, BUT SOULMATES HAVE EXISTED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. YOU HUMANS MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN WHEN YOU LOCKED US ALL AWAY TO ALSO BE FORGOTTEN. PERHAPS THAT IS WHY. YOU ALL WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH SOULMATES AND THEIR POWER.” 

“Papyrus-” 

“I KNOW IT IS RATHER SUDDEN, BUT IF I LEARNED ANYTHING FROM MY DAYS IN THE UNDERGROUND, IT IS THAT YOU CAN NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO PASS UP GOOD FORTUNE.” 

Yous stiffened as he leaned forward, and his cold teeth pressed against your lips. It was hardly a proper kiss, in fact, it was an almost uncomfortable mockery of one, but you could feel something warm crackling against your skin and an all consuming warmth bloom in your chest. Ever so slowly you could feel your mouth open, and your tongue pressed against his teeth. You had hardly touched the cold bones when his mouth opened and his tongue met yours. It was warm and throbbed as it caressed your own. 

He tasted like sweet coffee and bitter sanity pills. 

You jerked back and your fingernails dug into the material of your jeans. No, you couldn’t do irresponsible shit like this. This would get you all in trouble, and your job would get swiped out from under you. Swallowing the lump in your throat you stared up at the Monster and the hazy lights glowing in his eye sockets. “Papyrus, I said ‘no’. Don’t touch me again.” 

“OR ELSE WHAT?”    


“Humans have strict boundaries-” 

“QUOTING RE-EDUCATION?” He tilted his head. “THAT IS HARDLY SCARY, MY SWEET. BUT THEN, WHAT YOU HUMANS FIND SCARY I FIND VERY MUNDANE.” 

He reached out, and slim fingers curled around your neck. You stiffened as they lights made passes along your jugular. You had never seen Papyrus without his gloves, but if his hands were anything like his brother’s… 

You wouldn't have to worry about keeping a clear head anymore. 

“YOU’RE SCARED.” He leaned down, and his teeth scraped against your jugular. “I CAN FEEL IT IN YOUR VEINS, SMELL IT IN THE AIR, AND DROWNING IN YOUR SOUL.” His grip on your tightened when you shifted. “WHY ARE YOU SCARED, MY SWEET? IS IT BECAUSE YOU KNOW I COULD KILL YOU? THAT I COULD RIP OFF YOUR HEAD AND CRACK OPEN YOUR SKULL FOR YOUR MESS OF A BRAIN?”    


“...”

He chuckled, the sound so low and deep you could feel it in your stomach. “Don’t worry, My Sweet. I would never harm the person my soul has so kindly chosen for me. You are everything, and protecting you is my first priority. Whether that person is from myself, or from anyone else that would ever wish you harm.”

Your heart thudded in your chest when his fingers finally released your neck, and he pushed himself up properly. That damn grin was back, and his hands were on his hips. It was as if the last ten minutes were nothing but a dream thanks to a hangover gone horribly wrong. “YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD DRINK WATER. I HEARD THAT WATER AND MEDICATION HELPS HUMANS WITH THEIR HANGOVERS.” 

Fingers dug deeper into your jeans until you could feel a sharp sting. You thought you would shoot up in bed, and find your bedmates sleeping soundly next to you. Perhaps, you would even be transferred back to the days of sleeping on your mother’s old leather couch. But no, you were still on this old couch, still staring up at the eerily grinning Papyrus, and the smell of coffee still swirled around you like a curse. 

“IT IS ALRIGHT HUMAN,” he said. “I WILL GO GET THE MEDICINE. I WILL BE RIGHT BACK. DO NOT MOVE.” 

His footsteps didn’t even echo or thud through the house as he left. It was so silent it could have been mistaken for teleportation if you didn’t physically see him leave. Your gaze slipped from Papyrus’s retreating form, and down to the glowing screen of your phone. 

**_Have your bondmates displayed any odd behaviors? If so list them below!_ **

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus is gone, huh... I mean, he was last chapter, but I guess this just seals the deal. XD We also got a view from Sans's view point, which I've been super excited about! I hope you loved it as much as I did. 
> 
> Know what you don't love? My Tumblr~!


	12. Pain Pills For Our Woes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gore Level: N/a

You looked up from the medicine bottle as Sans entered the small house. His head hung low, and he seemed to be fiddling with something in his pocket. His face was smooth, well as smooth as it could be, and he didn’t have all the worries of the world on his shoulder. Your grip on the bottle tightened as he sat down next to you, and leaned back against the sofa with half lidded… Well, you weren’t sure. His sockets weren’t narrowed, but that strange eye light of his was. It was a strange phenomena, and you did your best not to think about it too hard. “Sans, may I ask you a question?” 

“just did.”

“Be serious.” 

“huh? i’m sans. got worse memory than me? cool.”

“Your brother’s insane.” 

His gaze shifted from the ceiling and over to you. He stared at you with that ye light that had gotten fat in the span of ten seconds. “yeah, so is every other monster that skittered out of the mountain. what’s your point?” 

You played with the pill bottle in your hand once more. Your thumb rubbed up and down against the faded label, rubbing off the ink even more with the sweaty digit. “He said we were soulmates and that a miracle happened last night. That mean anything to you?” 

“nope. not a thing."

Your eyes narrowed. “You sure? So help me, if you’re lying Sans-”

“look. a millenia ago there was this story about soul mates,” he said. “a soul’s core, that trait that dominates all the others, would be perfectly balanced with another trait/core. a monster’s core is more sensitive to that sort of thing compared to a human’s. so our core would find any core that balanced with it, and that would be the person that could be considered a ‘soul mate’. a monster can have a thousand soulmates in a big city like this. he’s probably thinking along those lines.” Sans shrugged. “don’t worry about it too much."

“I never heard that story before.” 

“because it’s a stupid folk tale.” A smirk lifted at the edges of his permanent smile. "we don't like talking to humans about that stuff either. kinda counterproductive to the 'avoiding your species like the plague' thing we've got going on."

"Right..."

You glanced over to the kitchen where Papyrus was organizing Sans’s medical things. It sounded like some kind of real folk tale you would find buried in a library, but Papyrus didn’t seem like the type to believe in anything like that. Hell, he made fun of you whenever you read the horoscope section of the Sunday newspaper. 

You shoved the bottle of pills in your pocket, and pushed yourself off the couch with a pop to your spine. “Thanks Sans. Sorry for sounding like I’m complaining. I just don’t want Papyrus to get into any sort of trouble and have to go back to the facility or something. You know?” 

Sans's eye light became that strange half lidded state again. “i hear ya.” 

“Good.” You gave a small shrug gestured to the bedroom. “Anyway, I’m gonna go take a nap for awhile. Let me know when lunch is ready?” 

“i’ll think about it.” 

You rolled your eyes, but that was all that you could expect out of the ornery skeleton, you supposed. With slow steps you finally made it to the bedroom, and you kicked your shoes off in the corner. The medicine bottle dug into your hip as you sat down on the bed, and stared down at your calloused hands. 

You really liked Papyrus. 

Well, that was a bit of an overstatement. 

You didn’t really like him that much, but you did find him to be charming and nice enough. You were honest when you told Sans you didn’t want to ruin Papyrus’s life over a misunderstanding. However, this line of thought couldn’t continue, either. The problem was getting Papyrus to break out of this... Mindset he had ensconced himself in. 

_Don’t worry, My Sweet. I would never harm the person my soul has so kindly chosen for me. You are everything, and protecting you is my first priority. Whether that person is from myself, or from anyone else that would ever wish you harm._

You had to wonder when Papyrus thought he was a danger towards you. It was highly unlikely that he thought that way when he was holding your neck. When he was so busy bragging about all the ways he could have killed you. Maybe you could just ask him outright, and then exploit your newfound knowledge. Then that ran the risk of feeding into his weird way of thinking, and you didn’t want that either. 

A soft sigh escaped your lips and you flopped back on the bed. You bounced for a moment or two, before your body stilled and the room was plunged in a thick silence that hurt more than it healed. Your brain was going through so many loops of how you could be put in danger from Papyrus’s bizarre way of thinking. Just the idea of falling out of the bed and the Monster coming to try and save you made a shiver go down your spine and your stomach loop in knots. 

“Hate this…”

* * *

 

Sans watched his brother dunk plates into the soapy dish water, and attack them with the frayed and fading sponge. His movements were careful and methodical. An interesting habit left over from his days of butchering and hanging meat on the racks. Nothing could be wasted, and nothing could possibly be destroyed from harshness or over eagerness. 

Nothing was replaceable. 

The older skeleton knocked his ganged up knuckles against the counter, and it did little to grab his brother’s attention. “hey. paps.”

“...”

“bro.”

“...”

He grabbed a cookie from the cookie jar, and chucked it at his brother’s skull. With a speed that would have frightened him years ago, Papyrus twisted around and snatched the sweet straight out of the air with his teeth. His empty sockets were trained on his brother. “Really?”

Sans shrugged. “you wouldn’t answer me.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Papyrus turned back to the dishes. “I was thinking about my soulmate.” 

“uh huh.”

“I was!” Sans raised a brow bone when his brother’s bones rattled against each other. “She had a hangover this morning, and I decided to not hold it against her. We will be doing this right.”

“what’re you gonna do when the police break down your door for fraternizing with the better species?”

Papyrus scoffed. “Don’t be sarcastic Sans, it’s unbecoming.” 

“whatever you say.” 

Papyrus paused in his scrubbing, and looked back to Sans with his head tilted and sockets narrowed. Sans was rather used to that sort of expression. It typically meant he was not satisfied with something he was presented with. “Have you thought about what I said, Sans?” 

“it’s only been a minute. can’t stop being unbecoming in a minute.” 

Papyrus shook his head. “No, not what I meant at all. I wanted to know if you would like to share my beloved.”

“why would i want your sloppy seconds?” 

“She is not sloppy, Sans.” Papyrus dried his hands off on the red towel hanging from the rusted towel rack. “And I say that we should share because it would be good for her. Having two strong Monsters to protect her. We would be able to lie better, and keep the story of why we do certain things straight.”

“so it’s all for your benefit.”

“... Yes.”

“course it is.” Sans pushed himself off the counter, and stuffed his hands into the thin pockets of his equally thin hoodie. “i’d dust my soul if you wanted it, paps. you’re my bro, and it’s my job to look out for you.” He jutted his skull towards the living room. “but that human in there? she’s gonna be an addicting mess, and that’s not something i want, yeah? i already can’t see well.” 

“...”

San shut his sockets, and let that blessed darkness consume his aching mind for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring eye socket to eye socket with Papyrus. “what?” 

“Don’t tell anyone Sans.” Papyrus reached out, and his long fingers dug into Sans’s jacket. The fabric groaned under the abuse, and he could feel the sharp phalanges digging into his bones. “Not a soul, Sans. I want to keep my soulmate safe in our nest.”

“...”

“Promise me, Sans.” Red bubbled up and stained the faded blue. “PROMISE ME.” 

“fine. cross my heart and hope to die.” 

Like the last drop of molasses coming out of a bottle, Papyrus slowly released Sans and stood up to his full height with a grin on his face. “Good! I will go check up on them now. I haven’t heard a peep from them in the last hour.” 

Sans watched his brother go. The darkness went with him, and Sans couldn’t help but think that the room itself was somehow brighter with his brother gone. Sans leaned against the cold counter top, and a hand cradled his still bleeding wound as he stared out the window. 

Birds were singing. 

The sky was so sunny. 

It was like a dream. 

“heh.” He shut his sockets and squeezed the wound. The slight burn that ran through his magic kept him centered in the here and now. “what do _you_ think…” 

the robins building their nest in the neighbor's tree ignored his question. Their unsightly brown feathers blustering with the cool wind. "that's what i thought too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, an update! So we get to see more of how Sans views the world, and just how much things are becoming undone. Don't worry guys, it gets worse. 
> 
> Know what isn't the worst? My Twitter! https://twitter.com/NilPastry

**Author's Note:**

> Oh geez, so many people brought this story to life. I'm so glad it's out of my brain and left out for all ya'll to see, but I'm also nervous too since this one is gonna get very dark very quickly...


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